To err is Human....To change the error of your ways Divine.

books:


	• Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior Ori Brafman, Rom Brafman Doubleday Business, 2008 - 224 pages average customer review:based on 35 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Engaging Look At What SWAYS Our Thinking

I truly enjoyed Ori Brafman's last book The Starfish and the Spider so I was excited to read his latest work. This book didn't disappoint.

Given what I do for a living I am always fascinated with what makes people tick. SWAY is an engaging book that helps the reader understand the incredibly powerful undercurrent that influences our thinking and ultimately how we may make (good and bad) decisions.

The book is packed full of excellent stories which compliment and enhance the fundamental ideas presented in each chapter. I found the entire book to be thought provoking and extremely interesting.

A great read that I would recommend to everyone.

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Sway Is Okay

SWAY has been described as a fun, quick read; a book based on the authors' argument that irrational behavior is fueled by loss aversion, diagnosis bias, and the "chameleon effect." Although somewhat entertaining, I wondered about other factors that also influence irrational behavior.

As an example, when the so-called "most experienced and accomplished pilot in the world" irrationally lifts off without takeoff clearance, Neil Weinstein's research regarding "optimistic bias" came to mind (the tendency to view oneself as less likely that others to experience negative life events).

Examples of optimistic bias include professional financial analysts consistently overestimating corporate earnings; smokers believing they are at less risk of developing smoking-related diseases than others who smoke, and let's not forget the research about college students rating themselves as much less likely than their peers to experience negative life events such as developing a drinking problem, having a heart attack, being fired from a job, or divorcing a few years after getting married. Based on the age-old concept of optimistic bias, I'm wondering if the celebrated pilot wasn't also in "full-on optimistic bias mode" ("'I' can make this happen!!"), when he made the decision to go forward?

In terms of "first-date interviewing," readers may rather prefer Marcus Buckingham's approach to interviewing explained in his book entitled "The One Thing You Need to Know." Buckingham shares practical and user-friendly strategies for fleshing out the so-called strengths and weaknesses offered up by potential employees.

The scant material in Sway might have been better condensed into a juicy article, but as a book, I wanted it to be better organized and better validated. People still talk about The Tipping Point and Blink by Gladwell, but will Sway stay the test of time? May I say: no sway?

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Fooled by Stubbornness

If you like to say "Wow", "Cool", "Check that out", "Way cool", "Silly humans" when you read, then get Sway.

The story the Brafman Brothers tell shall bring these words from you.

Well-written, the Brafmans thoughts flow from one chapter into the next. The page count and tight writing reveals high intellects in Ori and Rom.

You can read through this book in one sitting.

Like A Lazy Ocean Hugs the Shore....

We all make mistakes. Some minor, others, life-changing. Obtaining all the knowledge we can about this field will enhance our time on earth. Based on great stories and solid research, this fun book takes a meandering stroll down the beaches of behavioral and social science. Along the way, we find pearls of wisdom.

In light of the lessons I learned in this book, I will now have to go back and re-read Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinkingby Malcolm Gladwell whose lessons I have been applying at work and home. This book - in a way - is the opposite of Blink whereby our intuition does not rush in to save the day.

I applaud the lack of digressions and tangents. Too often, this type of book leaves the subject matter to discuss an area the reader has not interest in. My only negative critique is that this is really more of a subject for a magazine or journal article rather than a full-blown book length treatment. Still, I really enjoyed the book and hope you find this review helpful.

Michael L. Gooch, SPHR - Author of Wingtips with Spurs

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To err is Human....To change the error of your ways Divine.

I consider myself a super savvy chick. Someone who is shrewd and together.
But sometimes my own conduct makes me go, 'what the heck was I thinking ?'
I belong to Mashable.com's book club and received Sway last month.
Its a quick amusing and eye opening read. And it had such an impact that I reference it quite a lot lately.
It made me see in several key places where my decision making was faulty and leading me down paths to folly and failure.
Few books can change your worldview. This certainly has.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

A fascinating journey into the hidden psychological influences that derail our decision-making, Sway will change the way you think about the way you think.

Why is it so difficult to sell a plummeting stock or end a doomed relationship? Why do we listen to advice just because it came from someone ?important?? Why are we more likely to fall in love when there?s danger involved? In Sway, renowned organizational thinker Ori Brafman and his brother, psychologist Rom Brafman, answer all these questions and more.

Drawing on cutting-edge research from the fields of social psychology, behavioral economics, and organizational behavior, Sway reveals dynamic forces that influence every aspect of our personal and business lives, including loss aversion (our tendency to go to great lengths to avoid perceived losses), the diagnosis bias (our inability to reevaluate our initial diagnosis of a person or situation), and the ?chameleon effect? (our tendency to take on characteristics that have been arbitrarily assigned to us).

Sway introduces us to the Harvard Business School professor who got his students to pay $204 for a $20 bill, the head of airline safety whose disregard for his years of training led to the transformation of an entire industry, and the football coach who turned conventional strategy on its head to lead his team to victory. We also learn the curse of the NBA draft, discover why interviews are a terrible way to gauge future job performance, and go inside a session with the Supreme Court to see how the world?s most powerful justices avoid the dangers of group dynamics.

Every once in a while, a book comes along that not only challenges our views of the world but changes the way we think. In Sway, Ori and Rom Brafman not only uncover rational explanations for a wide variety of irrational behaviors but also point readers toward ways to avoid succumbing to their pull.

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