Leadership
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Branding as a power of business strategy
In an experiment to test the brand effect two almost identical diamond rings were purchased, one from Tiffany & Co. for $16,600 and the other from Costco for $6,600. These rings were then given to an independent gemologist to assess the fair values. Gemologists assessed the Costco ring for around $8000+, an almost $2000 above… Continue reading
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The First Instinct Fallacy
‘Trust your first instincts is the key learning we get early in our life, especially for educational settings; while giving an exam. We carry this learning or a similar form; ‘leaning on the popular beliefs’ in our personal and professional lives when things start looking complex. The latest psychology research has proved that when students… Continue reading
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What does ‘Alloying’ teach us about team formation?
In chemistry alloying is a process in which two metals (also non-metals) are mixed together to produce a metal with superior properties to either of the metals individually e.g. bronze made from ~90% copper and ~10% tin is harder and chemically more resistant than either copper or tin. In teams, you will have some members… Continue reading
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A wise old owl!
J. D. Rockefeller is considered to be the most successful businessman and wealthiest American of all time. He rarely spoke, made himself inaccessible for hours during his working day, and stayed quiet when someone caught his attention. A refinery worker who was close to Rockefeller once remarked that in a meeting he lets everybody else… Continue reading
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What can businesses learn from exaptation?
The biology term exaptation was coined by great evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould to explain a trait that can evolve because it served one particular function, but subsequently, it may come to serve another. For example, although today most birds use their feathers to fly, it would be incorrect to say that this means that… Continue reading
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What can Einstein teach us about perspective taking?
In his theory of special relativity, Einstein explained to us that two events can happen simultaneously from the perspective of one observer, yet happen at different times from the perspective of the other. And both observers would be right. Imagine that you as an observer standing on a railway platform as a train goes by.… Continue reading
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Beware of silos and overspecialisation !
This interesting example comes from the 2008 financial crisis. In the aftermath of the crisis, a federal reserve program launched in 2009 incentivized banks to lower monthly mortgage payments to homeowners who were struggling but still able to make partial payments. It was a great idea on paper but this is how it worked out… Continue reading
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The Adjacent Possible
Coined by Scientist Stuart Kauffman and popularized by Steven Johnson the term ‘the adjacent possible’ captures the limits and potential of an innovation. In simple term a successful innovation happens when it leverages the strengths of fields/domains around the core invention. For example, PayPal was first introduced as a payment method for transferring money between… Continue reading
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Choice Architecture
Dave Trott shares some interesting examples of choice architecture At a school in the USA, the girls in their early teens had just discovered lipstick. They would go into the female toilets to apply it. Then, giggling, they’d leave imprints of their lips on the large mirror. This made a lot of extra work for… Continue reading
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Getting used to of the terminology without thinking about it?
All of us fall victim to the terminology trap. We try to get used to of terminology faster to avoid looking dumb in a meeting or discussion. This very fact prevents our thinking. In an interesting article, John Lanchester explains some of the financial terms and their current meaning.‘Hedge Funds’ were supposed to be safer… Continue reading
Thinking Space 