The Upside of Irrationality

by: Dan Ariely

In this book, a sequel of sorts to Mr. Ariely’s book Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, the author explores ways in which we as humans behave irrationally and talks about the benefits of such irrational behavior, or at least the benefits of knowing about it. The book is separated into two sections, work-related irrationalities and those that take place more at home, in our personal relationships.

There are many revelations in this book that could be useful for companies and businesses to be cognizant of. One, for example, is that huge bonuses don’t necessarily translate to spectacular performance, in fact the opposite is more often the case. (This, as the author points out, could have lots of ramifications for the payment structures of Wall Street bankers, should they choose to listen.) Another is the fact that people who are confronted with the meaninglessness of the work they do tend to disengage from their work and allow apathy to set in. This could be a useful piece of information for managers, as giving their employees meaningful work in the first place and acknowledging it in the second, can lead to higher performance and better job satisfaction.

For people working for themselves, there are also some lessons to be learned. One is that we value things more the more time and effort we put into them, and we also tend to value them more than others do. (That is, we overvalue things we work hard on.) Mr. Ariely also explores some principles of pain and pleasure and discovers that we tend to view pleasant experiences where our pleasure was interrupted and then reinstated as more pleasant, and unpleasant experiences where we were interrupted as even more unpleasant. (This particular finding should be of some interest to the inveterate procrastinators among us.)

And in perhaps one of the most relevant experiments for businesses, Mr. Ariely found that customers who were angered by a particular experience with a company could almost always be placated by a simple apology and admission of wrong-doing by that company. This is an important fact that anyone who is involved in any kind of customer service should know.

All in all, this was a very interesting and readable book, backed up with scientific experiments, that could bring a lot of illumination to your work and personal life, including providing more than a little insight into how we all tend to behave irrationally, but how we can make it work to our advantage.

The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home
By: Dan Ariely
Pages: 334
Published: 2010 by HarperCollins