Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior

In 2008, Ori and Rom Brafman reached the New York Times Bestseller list with "Sway, The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior" which runs from anecdote to anecdote describing people making decisions that they think are perfectly informed by the facts, when in fact, they are perfectly informed by many other factors that sway their judgement, most of it they don't even realize. It's no secret that first impressions deeply color what comes next. It's no secret that human's have a emotional side that draws deeply from their intuition about things rather than their quantitative analysis of any given situation. Nevertheless, it's always fascinating to read these stories as it connects us to the fate of others. As long as that's understood, I have no trouble with this book. Take the story of the Stradivarius on the subway. In this encounter a world class concert violinist abandons the music hall and tuxedo (I don't even know what a concert violinist would wear) in favor of street musicians clothing performing in a subway during rush hour. Could anyone discerne a quality performance rising above the noise of their daily lives? Very few of the thousands passing by gave more than a nod...and a grand total of one person actually recognized who he was. Is this any different than driving to work in the morning with the sun in your eyes and failing to see that the light has changed from green to red? There is no difference...running that red light was no more irrational than failing to pick out a world class performance while rushing to work through a crowded subway station.Compare and contrast that with the decision of a seasoned 747 pilot to abandon his safety checklist in order to save time and reputation. What could have possibly driven a man as seasoned and programmed as the computer sitting in front of you now, to disregard his own programming?Very little about the human condition can be ascertained from the examples presented in this book other than, as worldly and self aware of our surroundings that we think we may be, human perception is actually very poor and significantly limited in scope. Since we are resourced constrained we tend to take the first information that we assess as necessary for our survival and filter out the rest. Which is why a first impression, will always have the biggest impact on us. No matter where that first impression originates. Once our brain does the filtering...it doesn't want to go back and reclassify the information...that's hard work. Once we are swayed there is almost no turning back.You could read all the neuro physcology books in the world and not come up with a better explanation for why it happens...why the irrational decisions shape our human existence. Take skydiving for instance. Unless you have a burning desire to jump out of a perfectly good airplane I doubt anyone would be able to talk you into it. Even when you've convinced yourself the odds are pretty good that you will survive the drop, it's not the odds that count. No matter how safely you prepare, no matter how many facts you read about the safety of the sport, diving out the door of an airplane at 10,000 feet is not a natural act. Plummeting through the wind at up to 200 mph is simply something that our human bodies have never considered at any time during evolutionary development. Thus, only from the irrational, can we arrive at a decision to do so.We cannot change our irrational side. Nor should we. Through stories, not science, books like Sway give us a deeper understanding that our irrational side is real. It's our instincts that have kept us alive for 10,000 years. Therefore it's not the irresistible pull of irrational behavior that gives us a story. The real story is why can't rational behavior win in the big the tug of war going on in our brain. In small ways, understanding that which makes us human, helps us to recognize the times when we are inhuman, as with a corporate decision to lay-off 10,000 employees to balance the spreadsheet, or at a time when we need to invoke our inhuman side, like when being in command of a 747 jumbo jet and making a decision to take off in a dense fog. We've got the ability to use both sides of our brain. The trick is to decide which one it's time to use. "Sway" gives us examples of situations where we should at least consider both sides. Four Stars for a very easy read with very good stories as examples...very similar in style Gladwell.

I read this book hoping to gain additional insight into the decision-making process. I decided to buy the book based in part on the first line on the inside of the book jacket: "Why is it so difficult to sell a plummeting stock...?" It turns out I was "swayed" by that one line - the book was about decision making, but in a much more general sense than just financial markets.Sway is a very easy read, of interest to anyone wanting to know more about people and their behavior. If you're thinking you'll get analysis of behavioral economics or finance then I can't recommend it, because - unfortunately - there is no focus on those areas. In fact, the book is mostly full of stories and anecdotes rather than analysis of the ideas in question. The main targets of discussion include:* Pain Aversion -we don't want to experience loss more than we do want to experience gain.* Commitment - it's difficult to change once you've committed to a particular path.* Value Attribution - the worth you place on something is very dependent on our initial impression. In other words, what we expect is often what we get.* Fairness - many decisions we make have more to do with how fair the transaction is than to what the benefit is to us.The discussion that I found most fascinating, though, looked at how we approach a task. According to the book, we can approach a task either altruistically or from a self-interested perspective, but not both. Once we approach something from a self-interested perspective, it takes over our altruistic intentions. Shifting from altruistic to self-interested intentions might even motivate us to not take on the task. For example, while we might do something for altruistic reasons, we might not do it for compensation. If offered compensation, we might lose our altruistic intention and drop from the task completely. From an economic perspective, it is interesting to consider how monetary incentives may not perform the way we would expect or hope.From an investment point of view the most significant take away from the book is the chapter on loss or pain aversion. I've personally seen this in action many times and it can lead to bad decisions. This chapter is worth the price if you think you're caught up in that issue, but it is at such a general level it won't do much other than, perhaps, make you aware of the issue.I'm rating Sway 3 out of 5 stars because, while it is interesting to read and people unfamiliar with the subjects may learn something, the book doesn't go into enough depth. Nonetheless, I think any reader will find sways that have impacted them and identifying those may be beneficial.

Rom and Ori bring us an informed perspective on our behavior, provoking additional thought about our motives and actions. A worthwhile read for those seeking reasons for otherwise unexplainable thought patterns in ourselves and others.

Swayとは人間の意識の中に潜み合理的な行動を妨げる隠れた力のことで、一部を紹介すると本書では以下のような概念を興味深い例示で説明している。Loss aversion(損失に対して過剰反応をし、これを回避する為に合理的には想定できないようなことをしでかす)・ KLMの安全責任者であった機長が時間の遅れを取り戻そうと飛行機の離陸時のルール無視して引き起こした狂気の沙汰とも言える大惨事・ 損失を確定せずに、いつか相場が反転すると期待して損切りできない投資家の心理・ 20ドル紙幣のオークションに204ドル迄値が競り上がってしまう不思議Ｖalue attribution(客観的なデータにも基かず直感をベースに物事を判断する)・ 世界的なバイオリン奏者が地下鉄のホームでジーンズに野球帽といった格好でで演奏をしていても、誰も気に留めずに通り過ぎてしまう(奏者の身なり服装から有名な音楽家だとは誰も思わない→演奏している音楽のクオリティや技術も大したことないと判断してしまう)・ 値段を上げたら急に商品が売れ出した(ものの価格を見て「高い＝高級品に違いない」と判断する)・ 同じコンサートでも高い金を払って入場した人の方が満足度が高いＤiagnosis bias (人、モノ、考え等に対して最初に下した判断に囚われ、後に、この先入観に反する客観的な情報が提供されても、従前の判断を変えることができない)・ NBAバスケットボール選手の試合出場時間は当該選手がドラフト何位で指名されたかとの相関が圧倒的に強い(ドラフト順位が高ければ良い選手のはずという先入観が後々まで影響する)・ 初めて会う人の性格等につき事前に知らされたイメージ(それが事実であろうが無かろうが)を払拭することができない…..等々、興味深い例をもとに人間の判断がいかに非合理的な方向に振れるかを説明している。”Influence” (Robert Cialdini著)や”Predictably Irrational”(Dan Ariely著)と内容的に共通する部分が多い。

This is an exceptionally easy book to read: in fact, as it's already a small book, that's the main reason why I've given it 3 rather than 5 stars. I read the book in one evening (in less than two hours), but the stories and examples given are very well put together and coherent. If you're a slow reader, add an extra star.What would make this book gain the extra two stars? More content, more examples, and a little less "context bias". What do I mean by context bias? Well, whilst the stories are true, they do omit a few little-known facts that would actually sway you AWAY from what the authors are saying. I won't give examples, as that'll spoil the stories for the reader (and they are very well told stories). Nevertheless, the authors look like they are onto something, so I give them the benefit of the doubt in that statistically what they're talking about does make sense (I write from a mathematician's point of view in that respect).The book has an American bias, as I didn't know what drafting was (in basketball). The book gives an extremely brief description of drafting, but no content in how it works in the real world - I had to do a Google search and look up 'drafting' on Wikipedia to really understand why the story about drafting was relevant to the book. It's kind of like if this were a UK book, not explaining the offside rule in football ('soccer') to non-football followers.Do I recommend this book?If you like a different take on how people operate, YES.If you like well told stories, a definite YES.All in all, it's a good read: it lasts as long as a standard film, but much cheaper. But weirdly I felt "short-changed" once I finished reading it, a similar feeling to when you watch a film and at the end you're told "it was all a dream".

Reading this book you will be able to unlock the way irrational people think & act, as well as the reasons why they do it. Therefore you can easily predict their reactions and you can be prepared for what to expect. After reading this book, I feel there are no more irrational behaviours and people, as I've learned the way to look into explaining why the behave in such a way. As a result, I have saved myself and our Company from many perils and turned them into successes, including of making profit from the unexpected!!! Ever since, I have bought literally dozens of copies of this book, giving them to my middle & top management at work and beloved ones, so as they can solve the mistery called "irrational behaviour and irrational people". To conclude, I consider this book one of the handful of books I highly recommend as the best "survival kit" for today's challenging and brutal world!!!

What makes doctors, politicians, businessmen, aircraft pilots and people from all walks of society make the most illogical blunders at times with grave consequences. What makes a university undergraduate find himself biding $204 for a $20 bill. Irrationality!. This book is a light-hearted read with narrative gripping illustrations that act as a page turner. A book that everyone in society would benefit from reading before they enter their adult life.

Truly excellent book. So many insights as to why we are so easily influenced by unconscious thinking styles that then affect our behaviour.Try a different behaviour by not reading book reviews and buying this book on intuition alone... you won't be disappointed.