Nudge - Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness - Richard Thaler / Cass Sunstein

-



ISBN: 978-0-300-12223-7

Verdict: 👍👍


The book, quite rightly so, starts with a nice definition found on page 6 of what is to follow i.e. "A nudge, as we will use the term, is any aspect of the choice architecture that alters people’s behaviour in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives."


It is an enjoyable read and does not disappoint, it takes a basic concept from parts of human behavioural science and expands with some good examples of “Choice Architecture” to reinforce the concepts. My one criticism is that it is written with an American, as all case studies and examples are US centric and, in some cases, not relevant to a British reader, hence my 2 thumbs - but still a good read. 


Here are my favourite snippets from the book;

  •        “If an option is designated as a “default”, it will attract a large market share. Default options thus act as powerful nudges.”   p35
  •        “Small interventions and even coincidences, at a key stage, can produce large variations in outcomes” p63
  •        We agree. Incentive-based approaches are more efficient and more effective, and they also increase freedom of choice p166

All in all a nice read – I did gain some useful insights which made me think and thats always good thing ! 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Surrounded by Idiots – The Four Types of Human Behaviour (or, How to Understand those Who Cannot Be Understood) – Thomas Erikson

-
Image
ISBN:  978-1-78504-218-8 Verdict :👍👍 I enjoyed reading this book with its elaboration of the concepts that centre around the D ominance, I nducement, S ubmission and A nalytics ability (DISA) system for  human  communication which the Author breaks into 4 Color Types ( Red , Yellow , Blue & Green ) and says that " behaviour.Its like a  recipe  - we need to understand all the ingredients before we bake the cake " p13 The book discusses the various  behavioural  traits of individuals which the author centers around a 4 square color model, with each color representing a specific trait and some behavioral patterns associated with the colors - here are some snippets; The Quote "Only Dead Fish Go with the Flow" to describe Reds is classical where Reds are quick thinkers and one on long before everyone else. Yellows can be amusing, creative and elevate the mood regardless of who they are with         p64 " Greens are easy to hangout with..
Read more

IBM and the Holocaust: The Strategic Alliance Between Nazi Germany and America's Most Powerful Corporation - Edwin Black

-
Image
ISBN :  978-0-609-90899 Verdict :  👍👍   👍👍 I actually read this book when it was first published, about 19 years ago, hence the ISBN number does not correspond to that on Amazon ( weird ). However, I decided to revisit this book after reading a misleading post from an IBM Employee promoting the historical credentials in a positive way.  So I picked it up again and scan read taking note of the bits I had previously highlighted approx 2 decades ago to write this review. I t’s one of those books that one should read if interested in the link / connection between business and political regimes.   IBM and its German subsidiary custom-designed complex solutions anticipating the Reich's needs. The amazing thing is that IBM did not sell the machines and walk away. Instead, IBM leased these machines for high fees and became the sole source of the billions of punch cards Hitler needed to execute the functionality of the machine - execute being an key word ! For me the one thing that stic
Read more

Red Teaming ( Transform Your Business by Thinking Like the Enemy) - Bryce G Hoffman

-
Image
  ISBN: 978-0-349-43146-6 Verdict: 👍 👍   👍   👍   I picked this book up in a charity shop in London’s Portobello Market and after reading it I felt guilty for not paying the full price as this book is definitely great value in terms of both information and advice provided. As you may be aware I judge a book by the number of insights I highlight as I read a book and in this case the book was ruined by my highlights – Thus, I would strongly recommend reading this book.   The core concept of Red Teaming is nothing new, i.e. the role of the devil’s advocate , however what this book promotes is structure and how to provoke as opposed to formal assessments of strategies, plans, assumptions etc. I will not , as my usual pattern, share some quotes from the book as having purchased this at a charity shop I want to encourage others to get a copy and look at it - It will be very much worth it !
Read more