Book report

Sway
The Irresistible pull of irrational behavior

Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman


The director of our department recommended this book in a meeting I was in about six months ago, I finally got around to checking it out of the library and reading it this past week.

The book was very interesting, the authors talk about the different ways, or 'sways' that influence our decisions, and make us do stupid things. (Or at least irrational.) They started by talking about the Tenerife airline crash, when the pilot took off in think fog, and ended up plowing into another airliner. The pilot had been the chief safety officer for the company he was in, and should have new better, but time pressures influenced his decision, and off they went.

Some of the things that the authors explain influence our irrational decisions:

• fear of failure
• committing to and idea and being unable to stop that commitment
• making a judgment on the value of something - either direction, good or bad.
• There are others, but you should read the book...
  

The authors talked about how the pleasure center of the brain appears to overcome the altruistic center of the brain when decisions are made. When monetary (or other) incentive is involved, people often serve less or less effectively. (I figure it's the 'Natural Man' they are really talking about.)

At the end of the book, they talk about group dynamics and how they work. They define the term 'blocker', in a group, the person with a different view, wither right or wrong, and how this blocker can help the group make better decisions in the long run.

This was a very interesting book. I recommend everyone gets a copy and reads it. In the meantime, eggs are half off at the store, I am off to buy 50 dozen.