We should try to repay what other person provided us. We observe that the rule of reciprocation plays a big role everywhere. Almost all political environments work with this rule. We see a lot of corruption not because people are bad but because of the strength of this psychological rule. For example, with my...
In small favors that are often invisible, we give a lot of automatic responses. If someone cuts the line, we become frustrated, but if they first ask to pass us while giving a weak reason, we give them the place. The reasons don’t have to be strong and logical. Any illogical reason also works as long as there is a...
Take the first step to share feedback. The rule of reciprocation can play a big role when you want to get feedback, too. Especially for the positive feedback, take the extra time to provide it in the most visible way. This favor will get its return when you need feedback, too. While the other person thanks for the...
If you would like to use the perceptual contrast principle in practice while trying to convince people, offer them the worst option first if you want/need them to exaggerate a better option and evaluate it to be better than it really is. If you want/need someone to stay away from an option, show them the best option...
I've been absent from your inbox, and I won’t tell you that I was busy. I'm trying to get that word out of my life. Busyness is only an illusion we create ourselves to avoid confronting our procrastination or an excuse to leave our commitments unfulfilled. It’s also a common justification for saying, “I have no...
If somebody asks you how you manage your team, you have to be able to explain it to them clearly. “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” — Maslow’s hammer. That means you must have a goal, strategy, tactics, methodologies, mental models, and many more in your toolbelt and know how to use them....
In my experience, my Moonlander keyboard was broken, and I asked for support to see what they could do. Even though my keyboard was out of warranty, they sent a replacement unit for free. Now, I feel indebted to them and started writing a Moonlander review blog post. They solved my needs in a very customized way....
Have you ever observed how many times a leader needs to repeat a message for others to follow? In any change, saying something once never works (at least, I've never seen it work). It's not because people are incompetent or careless. It's because they forget. If we, as leaders, want people to change their minds or...
Nachdem ich in meinem Text erklärt habe, wie ich die Nachrichten lese, habe ich viele Kommentare erhalten. Ich dachte, dass die Ideen so normal oder gemeinsam sind, dass ich sie nicht geteilt hätte. Aber ich musste sagen, dass ich viele Jahre lang meine Lebensgewohnheiten geändert habe. Die Zeit, Energie und kleinen...
I pondered how I consume the latest or daily news and changed my habits (over the years). I used to be glued to my phone, constantly scrolling through the news and feeling overwhelmed. But I realized I needed to take control. So, I decided to cut back on checking the news every day and instead set aside time once a...
In the book Digital Minimalism, Cal Newport talks about how we can live a focused life in a noisy world, and he says, “Humans are not wired to be constantly wired.” I quoted the book, but I haven’t read it yet. I guess you thought, for a split second, that I read the book because I’m quoting it here. That itself is...
I think this phenomenon shows itself when working with any employee. When we invest time and create tracking methods to follow direct reports' career progress and improvement areas, they know that they are being observed, and they try to improve the parts we have our eyes on. This phenomenon coincides with...
