Editorial Review:Product Description:A fascinating journey into the hidden psychological influences that derail our decision-making, Sway will change the way you think about the way you think.
Why is it so difficult to sell a plummeting stock or end a doomed relationship? Why do we listen to advice just because it came from someone “important”? Why are we more likely to fall in love when there’s danger involved? In
Sway, renowned organizational thinker Ori Brafman and his brother, psychologist Rom Brafman, answer all these questions and more.
Drawing on cutting-edge research from the fields of social psychology, behavioral economics, and organizational behavior,
Sway reveals dynamic forces that influence every aspect of our personal and business lives, including loss aversion (our tendency to go to great lengths to avoid perceived losses), the diagnosis bias (our inability to reevaluate our initial diagnosis of a person or situation), and the “chameleon effect” (our tendency to take on characteristics that have been arbitrarily assigned to us).
Sway introduces us to the Harvard Business School professor who got his students to pay $204 for a $20 bill, the head of airline safety whose disregard for his years of training led to the transformation of an entire industry, and the football coach who turned conventional strategy on its head to lead his team to victory. We also learn the curse of the NBA draft, discover why interviews are a terrible way to gauge future job performance, and go inside a session with the Supreme Court to see how the world’s most powerful justices avoid the dangers of group dynamics.
Every once in a while, a book comes along that not only challenges our views of the world but changes the way we think. In
Sway, Ori and Rom Brafman not only uncover rational explanations for a wide variety of irrational behaviors but also point readers toward ways to avoid succumbing to their pull.
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
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Great content, but is there better treatment of the subject elsewhere?
The Brothers Brafman chose a truly fascinating topic for their book: the irrationalities hard-wired into the human brain that can lead us to make poorer decisions than we might otherwise. A number of books have been written about this topic of late, and this one isn't bad, but it isn't the best, either.
If you want a brief, competent and readable synopsis of the topic of the consistent ways that the human mind betrays us in our decision-making process, Sway is the book for you. If, however, you are looking for a more complete, deeper review of the subject, I recommend Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely. The Brafman's actually cite some of Ariely's work in Sway. Ariely's book is just as readable as Sway, but covers the topic better and is written by someone more directly involved in the research on the topic.
Sway provides a quick overview of a very interesting topic that can help you become a better decision maker, but if you want a deeper understanding, Predictably Irrational. You won't go wrong with either book, one just covers more ground.
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You do not start to sway
I believed that this book would have come up with something new. But most of their examples was rather old and you have probably read about them somewhere else.
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Too short, too far reaching, an okay book
The authors made some big claims with the research they found, but didn't back things up as well as I would have liked. The book would have made a great lecture, or conversation, but doesn't cut it as a full fledged book.
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Swayed...Yes I Am!
I really enjoyed reading Sway. It is written in an engaging manner and really builds on the concepts presented. The true worth of the book is helping us see how each of us is influenced by several factors that we often overlook, particularly our own bias.
This is a good read for anyone who works with large groups of people, especially in settings where tradition is important (i.e. churches, government, or education).
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Good but not great!
I was expecting a truly great book. The book sure has some very interesting information but the book just doesn't flow well.