Feeling understood, norms & pride
“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusionthat it has taken place." – George Bernard Shaw Your mother has baked a...
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Lotteries, airlines & incentives that backfire
“A little learning is a dangerous thing.” - Alexander Pope In March 2018, United Airlines made headlines. Company managers decided...
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- 5 min
Back to the future & preparing for parades
Overconfidence blinds us In a study, scientists asked people to make guesses. For instance, they had to guess how much money movies with...
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Thinking backwards & perfect workdays
“All I want to know is where I'm going to die so I'll never go there.” - Charlie Munger What the accomplished businessman, investor, and...
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On billion dollar ideas, crowded shops & minds of lawyers
"We are generally too easily content with one explanation for anything" - Rory Sutherland Why are Google, Amazon, Facebook etc....
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The Pratfall effect: Don't be perfect, just be competent
Are you a perfectionist? Here's a short test you can take to spot the 7 warning signs of perfectionism: Unrealistic standards: Do you...
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Beating indecisiveness in small decisions
In a week, how long does it take you to decide: - What to eat? - What to watch on Netflix? - What to wear?
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Complex systems, behavior change & leverage points
When dealing with complex systems, we best look for leverage points. Case study: Sugar tax In 2018 the UK started taxing soft drinks...
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To stay productive, insert slack
We often think everything is a sprint but...very few things are sprints. Most things are marathons. Ever been to a work induction day...
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Your two selves
Where you would go on vacation if you could leave right now and money were no object? Where would you go if you could leave right now,...
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The 10-10-10 decision tool
There's a common principle behind ads that work, the fake news we believe, political campaigns that win, songs we eventually like. And...
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Tiny changes, compound effects
There's a truly powerful concept that we all know but tend to forget when it comes to ourselves: the power of 1% improvements. The power...
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The power of "what if"
Have you watched the 1998 film "Sliding Doors"? It's about two parallel storylines for the protagonist, Helen (played by Gwyneth...
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How {wo}men decide
We know from decades of research (and perhaps, regrettable personal experiences) that men and women treat shopping decisions...
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Reality-test your assumptions
How can you improve something you don’t fully understand? Anne Mulcahy, a 45-year-old, little-known executive, became CEO of Xerox in...
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How to have productive meetings
How many hours do you spend in meetings every week? Whether formal or informal, planned or impromptu, small or large, face-to-face or...
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Disagree more
Most people try their best to manage conflict. And while at it, they fail to manage agreement. When in fact agreement has its own...
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Extreme customer service
Here's a story about how a simple decision turned a small store into a retail giant amidst a recession. A simple decision about an...
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Museum of failure
There’s a “Museum of Failure” in Sweden. Inspired by Croatia’s “Museum of Broken Relationships”, the museum celebrates products that...
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Starting better
There's a better way to start. But few people and businesses apply it. Here, we steal a page from Simon Sinek's work to help us start...
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