Procedures vs culture

It may be tempting to believe that implementing the right procudures will result in the right outcomes, i.e. conducting free and democratic elections will be a huge leap towards free and wealthy society. Unfortunately, the reults of any exercise strongly depend on culture and environment, which exhibit a natural cohesion and requires much time for changes. So, results are as much dependant on people's attitude and incentives, as on the form of procedures.

Unrealistic Optimism

Before the start of Thaler’s class in Managerial Decision Making, students fill out an anonymous survey on the course Web site. One of the questions is “In which decile do you expect to fall in the distribution of grades in this class?” Students can check the top 10 percent, the second 10 percent, and so forth. Since these are mba students, they are presumably well aware that in any distribution, half the population will be in the top 50 percent and half in the bottom. And only 10 percent of the class can, in fact, end up in the top decile.

Nevertheless, the results of this survey reveal a high degree of unrealistic optimism about performance in the class. Typically less than 5 percent of the class expects their performance to be below the median (the 50th percentile) and more than half the class expects to perform in one of the top two deciles. Invariably, the largest group of students put themselves in the second decile. We think this is most likely explained by modesty. They really think they will end up in the top decile, but are too modest to say so.

Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein

Happiness

Just want to express that I'm very, very happy. Thank you very much)

Vkontakte vs Facebook

96 shares vs 2k shares of this link.

Keep Looking

Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

Steve Jobs.

Anchoring

In an experiment conducted some years ago, real-estate agents were given an opportunity to assess the value of a house that was actually on the market. They visited the house and studied a comprehensive booklet of information that included an asking price. Half the agents saw an asking price that was substantially higher than the listed price of the house; the other half saw an asking price that was substantially lower. Each agent gave her opinion about a reasonable buying price for the house and the lowest price at which she would agree to sell the house if she owned it. The agents were then asked about the factors that had affected their judgment. Remarkably, the asking price was not one of these factors; the agents took pride in their ability to ignore it. They insisted that the listing price had no effect on their responses, but they were wrong: the anchoring effect was 41%. Indeed, the professionals were almost as susceptible to anchoring effects as business school students with no realestate experience, whose anchoring index was 48%. The only difference between the two groups was that the students conceded that they were influenced by the anchor, while the professionals denied that influence.

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, a nobel prize winner in economics.

Life Is Short

Today attended a training on personal effectiveness. Got a new goal for myself. Became more confident and determined. Increased the number of bloomy dreams...

Then read about this news in facebook. I did not know her. I met her only once in my life. We were in Arsenal last April and listened to Ivan Malkovych, who described his plans for an upcoming book exhibition. She was very energetic and smiling. Later I read something from her and about her in Art Ukraine. Enjoyed her beautiful smile...

She ought to have had many dreams and plans. Why she was not given more chances to improve this world???

No matter how much time we still have, that amount is too small. I have come to realize once again that personal effectiveness is about doing something worthwhile today, not waiting for tomorrow. Cause tomorrow may never come, at least for some of us.