Filling Up These Last Days of the Summer Doldrums with Something Worthwhile
I don't know about you, but I've had some extra time on my hands these last days of the so-called summer doldrums. Work hasn't been as busy, hence the extra time. Among other things, a good book can prove a happy exchange for a drop off in commercial activity. Here's one I'm just finishing up during these last days before the Labor Day weekend: Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.
Kahneman's a winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics. He and his long-time, now deceased research partner, Amos Tversky, published seminal studies "that challenged the rational model of judgment and decision making" according to the dust cover of the book. (Kahneman generously recognizes and attributes his work with Tversky, who died before the Nobel was awarded, for his having won the prize.)
This book distinguishes between two kinds of thinking: fast and slow. Fast is something we all do. Slow is something fewer of us do. Fast comes "naturally" and relatively easily. Relying on what we call "intuition," it's helpful for making certain kinds of decisions. For example, in an emergency like a "fight or flight" situation, fast thinking helps us either defend or preserve our life or the lives of others. Slow thinking, a longer, more arduous process, doesn't come as easily to most of us; but it's well worth the effort. Kahneman provides many examples of where we can and cannot trust our intuition and, alternately, how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking.
These two sorts of thinking aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. At work, if we're confronted with an irate customer, fast thinking might help us react quickly and appropriately to quell anger. Once we do that, we can address the customer's problem in a meaningful, helpful manner using slow thinking.
Or let's say you just got unexpectedly laid off from your job. No two weeks notice: Your salary plus your benefits cease immediately. Senior management did provide a severance package but it has a demand that you sign off on it within 10 days. Your fast thinking helps you find and hire an attorney to review the details, maybe help you negotiate a better package. Meanwhile you either use your own knowledge and expertise or that of a financial planner to determine how long your financial resources will sustain you, as well as whether it makes sense to replace any of those group benefits you've lost with your own individual coverage. In all this, you're more or less reacting to a sudden shock. You're really combining fast and slow thinking to arrive at some of these decisions. Meanwhile, after that initial flurry, you begin to apply your slow thinking to plan and execute your job search so you can find something decent in a reasonable amount of time.
Admittedly, I've found the book a bit tedious at times. While his writing is lucid, Kahneman, being an academic, does drag us through details that obviously suit his desire to be thorough. Since I'm somewhat familiar with the subject matter, and have read some of Kahneman's other writings, I find myself skimming certain sections of the book. I'm not really criticizing the author here. He's making a case, and he does it well. So if you've not been exposed to this author or the ideas he's presenting, you may find the specifics of this or that study conducted by various academic psychologists more engaging.
Either way, if you get the main points about fast and slow thinking, and why both are important, you'll benefit from reading this book. What you'll learn can be beneficially applied both to your work life and your personal life. Simply put, a better understanding of how we make decisions, and why we make them will help us avoid bad decisions and make better ones.
Another key benefit gained has to do with better understanding specific factors that influence your thinking. For example, when negotiating the price of an item, it's a well-established fact that the first person to offer a price gains an advantage. I've always thought my negotiating skills could use honing, so I found the book especially helpful here. For example, if someone begins a negotiation with a price far higher than what I consider reasonable or acceptable, the counter-offer should not be something equally far lower. That only creates an impasse. Better to simply walk away if the first offer is out of line. The other alternative would be to say something along the lines of, "What are you crazy?" Then again, if you're not negotiating the price of jewelry in a Middle Eastern bazaar, you might consider something on the other end of the spectrum like, "Don't you think that's a bit rich?" - or maybe something in between those two extremes.
In addition to understanding factors that influence your thinking, there's an additional benefit in understanding how your thinking can be influenced by certain words, phrases, ideas or even the tone of voice of others: You can avoid being manipulated into doing something or accepting something that really doesn't suit you or benefit you. And that will prove valuable not only in business, but in all aspects of your life, including your personal relationships.
So that's one way I've been filling up these last days of summer doldrums 2018. Add in some days off, visiting with family, taking an extra nap or two and I think I'll be primed and raring to go when more normal times return after Labor Day.
Kahneman's a winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics. He and his long-time, now deceased research partner, Amos Tversky, published seminal studies "that challenged the rational model of judgment and decision making" according to the dust cover of the book. (Kahneman generously recognizes and attributes his work with Tversky, who died before the Nobel was awarded, for his having won the prize.)
This book distinguishes between two kinds of thinking: fast and slow. Fast is something we all do. Slow is something fewer of us do. Fast comes "naturally" and relatively easily. Relying on what we call "intuition," it's helpful for making certain kinds of decisions. For example, in an emergency like a "fight or flight" situation, fast thinking helps us either defend or preserve our life or the lives of others. Slow thinking, a longer, more arduous process, doesn't come as easily to most of us; but it's well worth the effort. Kahneman provides many examples of where we can and cannot trust our intuition and, alternately, how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking.
These two sorts of thinking aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. At work, if we're confronted with an irate customer, fast thinking might help us react quickly and appropriately to quell anger. Once we do that, we can address the customer's problem in a meaningful, helpful manner using slow thinking.
Or let's say you just got unexpectedly laid off from your job. No two weeks notice: Your salary plus your benefits cease immediately. Senior management did provide a severance package but it has a demand that you sign off on it within 10 days. Your fast thinking helps you find and hire an attorney to review the details, maybe help you negotiate a better package. Meanwhile you either use your own knowledge and expertise or that of a financial planner to determine how long your financial resources will sustain you, as well as whether it makes sense to replace any of those group benefits you've lost with your own individual coverage. In all this, you're more or less reacting to a sudden shock. You're really combining fast and slow thinking to arrive at some of these decisions. Meanwhile, after that initial flurry, you begin to apply your slow thinking to plan and execute your job search so you can find something decent in a reasonable amount of time.
Admittedly, I've found the book a bit tedious at times. While his writing is lucid, Kahneman, being an academic, does drag us through details that obviously suit his desire to be thorough. Since I'm somewhat familiar with the subject matter, and have read some of Kahneman's other writings, I find myself skimming certain sections of the book. I'm not really criticizing the author here. He's making a case, and he does it well. So if you've not been exposed to this author or the ideas he's presenting, you may find the specifics of this or that study conducted by various academic psychologists more engaging.
Either way, if you get the main points about fast and slow thinking, and why both are important, you'll benefit from reading this book. What you'll learn can be beneficially applied both to your work life and your personal life. Simply put, a better understanding of how we make decisions, and why we make them will help us avoid bad decisions and make better ones.
Another key benefit gained has to do with better understanding specific factors that influence your thinking. For example, when negotiating the price of an item, it's a well-established fact that the first person to offer a price gains an advantage. I've always thought my negotiating skills could use honing, so I found the book especially helpful here. For example, if someone begins a negotiation with a price far higher than what I consider reasonable or acceptable, the counter-offer should not be something equally far lower. That only creates an impasse. Better to simply walk away if the first offer is out of line. The other alternative would be to say something along the lines of, "What are you crazy?" Then again, if you're not negotiating the price of jewelry in a Middle Eastern bazaar, you might consider something on the other end of the spectrum like, "Don't you think that's a bit rich?" - or maybe something in between those two extremes.
In addition to understanding factors that influence your thinking, there's an additional benefit in understanding how your thinking can be influenced by certain words, phrases, ideas or even the tone of voice of others: You can avoid being manipulated into doing something or accepting something that really doesn't suit you or benefit you. And that will prove valuable not only in business, but in all aspects of your life, including your personal relationships.
So that's one way I've been filling up these last days of summer doldrums 2018. Add in some days off, visiting with family, taking an extra nap or two and I think I'll be primed and raring to go when more normal times return after Labor Day.
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