There’s no such thing as a free lunch. In English, this is a popular phrase that suggests you can’t get something for nothing. (Readers, is there a similar saying in other languages?) Like many common phrases, its origin is shrouded in mystery. At the heart of the phrase, the concept of a “free lunch” refers…
Learning about the numerosity heuristic can save you money. As a three-time CEO, I’ve had a lot of experience with incentive stock options and have been appalled by how poorly they are understood by employees. Many employees fixated on the number of shares they were granted, rather than the percentage of shares outstanding. They would multiply their…
When are you the most productive? If you’re like most people, it’s unlikely that you answered “during the day in the office.” It might be early in the morning or late at night when no one else is around. It might be a special room in your house or a quiet spot in the library. For me,…
For the last 10 years, U.S. News & World Report has published an annual ranking of the top American hospitals in 16 specialties and 20+ metro areas. In the 2010 survey, only 152 of the 4,852 hospitals evaluated performed well enough to rank in any specialty. Of those 152, fourteen of them were given ‘honor role’…
Why are unimportant decisions so hard for people to make? The conventional wisdom is people don’t make decisions due to the fear of being wrong. However, in “Decision Quicksand: When Trivial Choices Suck Us In,” research suggests excessive information and extraneous choices trick our brains into thinking a decision is more complicated than it really…
While popular wisdom is that any publicity is good publicity, academic research has largely shown negative word of mouth hurts company brand and sales. For example, negative movie reviews decrease box office receipts to the point that Hollywood pundits believe that it is “almost impossible to recover from bad buzz.” As a specific example, Viacom Chairman…
Would you rather do nothing or do something that serves no purpose? University of Chicago researchers discovered most people, given even a flimsy excuse to be busy, will choose doing something over doing nothing. People were happy when they were busy, even if they were forced to be busy or if the task had no…
The next time you go on a job interview be sure to bring your resume in a heavy, well-constructed portfolio and encourage the person interviewing you to drink a hot beverage. You’re more likely to get the job. Research in the field of embodied cognition has shown job candidates appear more important when they are associated…
A year after blogging that Halloween metrics can be scary, there is some good news from the National Retail Federation. The NRF reports that American consumers will spend an average of $66.28 on Halloween in 2010, up from last year’s $56.31 and about the same as 2007 and 2008. Even though Halloween didn’t become a commercial…
The Mae West attributed quote “flattery will get you everywhere” may be good advice. Sometimes. Research published in the Journal of Marketing Research demonstrates flattery leaves a lasting and positive impression of the flatterer, even when people believe it is insincere. In the experiment, participants were shown a flyer from a fictitious clothing store complimenting…