Right Attitudes

The Bikeshedding Fallacy: Why Trivial Matters Eclipse the Important Ones

May 26, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Parkinson’s Law of Triviality, also known as the Bikeshedding Effect, is a mental model that underscores the inclination to place undue emphasis on a simple or easily comprehensible matter while ignoring more significant ones.

The term “bikeshedding” originated from a book by C. Northcote Parkinson (who gave us Parkinson’s Law.) To illustrate the idea of bikeshedding, Parkinson evokes a situation where a cross-disciplinary committee discusses the design of a nuclear power plant. Most of the members have a limited understanding of nuclear reactor design. Consequently, they will likely rely on the experts’ opinions on these critical matters.

However, when the discussion turns to a relatively simple topic like a humble bike storage shed for employees, everyone feels the need to contribute. This is attributable to the people’s desire to be recognized as valuable contributors and showcase their competence by providing their thoughts on something everyone can understand. As a result, the committee spends a disproportionate amount of time deliberating on trivial matters like the shed’s building material or paint color while turning its back on critical issues such as how to foolproof the fuel control system.

In essence, Parkinson’s Law of Triviality highlights the human tendency to focus on easy-to-understand matters, even if they are less important, because individuals feel more confident and productive doing them.

The Streisand Effect: When Trying to Hide Only Makes it Shine

May 25, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

In a famous episode of the beloved British sitcom Father Ted, the main character and his fellow priests embark on a protest against the airing of a film titled “The Passion of Saint Tibulus.” The movie portrays a Catholic saint disrespectfully, causing outrage among the Vatican and local bishops. However, despite the priests’ efforts, their parishioners do not heed to the boycott. To their dismay, media coverage of the priests’ pickets only amplifies the controversy, inadvertently making the film even more popular.

This comical scenario perfectly exemplifies the Streisand Effect, a phenomenon wherein attempts to suppress something end up drawing more attention to it.

The term “Streisand Effect” originated in 2003 when singer and actress Barbra Streisand sued a photographer for including an aerial photo of her Malibu home in a collection of images documenting coastal erosion. The lawsuit garnered significant attention to the photo, which had only been downloaded six times before the legal action. Suddenly, the photo went viral, accumulating millions of views and symbolizing the Streisand Effect.

A more recent example of this phenomenon occurred in 2017 when then-White House press secretary Sean Spicer attempted to quash a story about his meeting with reporters. Spicer had requested that the reporters keep the meeting private, hoping to prevent it from being reported. However, his efforts backfired spectacularly when the journalists went ahead and wrote about the meeting. During a press briefing, Spicer scolded the journalists for disregarding his wishes, inadvertently bringing even more attention to the original story. Had Spicer ignored the reporting, the story might have fizzled out quietly. Instead, it became a viral sensation, sparking numerous memes and jokes.

These examples serve as a powerful reminder to carefully consider the potential consequences before attempting to suppress or control information.

Mise En Place Your Life: How This Culinary Concept Can Boost Your Productivity

May 24, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

“Mise en place” may sound like a highfalutin term, but it is a French phrase that means “set in place.” In the culinary world, it refers to the practice of preparing all ingredients and equipment in advance of cooking. This means tasks such as chopping vegetables, measuring ingredients, preheating ovens, and organizing equipment are taken care of before cooking begins. The benefit of this preparation is that cooks can concentrate entirely on cooking during service, free from the need to stop and gather or prepare ingredients. Mise en place is an essential aspect of professional cooking and symbolizes a well-organized and efficient kitchen.

When it comes to exceptional cooking, chefs take their craft seriously. Mise en place isn’t just a time-saving technique; it’s a way of life. Messing with it is like kicking a hornet’s nest, as Anthony Bourdain, the culinary world’s travel documentarian, underscored in his bestselling book, Kitchen Confidential (2000): “Mise en place is the religion of all good line cooks.” Everything from their station to their tools, supplies, and backups should be arranged with military precision, and disturbing this sacred set-up is like throwing the universe off balance. Things can quickly spiral out of control, and anyone in the restaurant is advised not to mess with a line cook’s “meez” unless they want to face their wrath!

The same concept can be applied to any project or task. Pre-planning and careful preparation reduce the risk of interruptions and distractions. Take time to plan ahead, gather the necessary resources, and know your goal before starting. Keep the mundane concerns from keeping you focused on the job you’re there to do.

Think of it as a personal mise en place. Sit down and plan out what you need to succeed, including the necessary skills, resources, and people. Doing so allows you to channel your full attention to the task at hand, avoiding distractions and increasing your overall effectiveness.

Decoy Effect: The Sneaky Sales Trick That Turns Shoppers into Spenders

May 23, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Imagine yourself at the movie theater, deciding whether to buy a small popcorn for $5 or a large popcorn for $8. You’re wondering if the extra popcorn is worth the extra money, so you consider the small size. Suddenly, the cashier offers you medium popcorn for $7.50, and you buy it instead of the small one.

However, the medium popcorn is a lure—a true distraction. By introducing it, the theater has made the large popcorn seem like a better value and the small popcorn seem less attractive. This is a classic marketing strategy known as the Decoy Effect, which aims to influence your decision-making.

In essence, the Decoy Effect presents you with two options and then adds a third option designed to make one of the original options more appealing. This can sway your decision-making and lead you to choose the more expensive option.

Studies have shown that framing can influence our decisions, as a well-designed decoy can shift opinions by up to 40%. One well-known example of the decoy effect in action is from The Economist, the influential weekly international news and business publication. Behavioral economist Dan Ariely’s book Predictably Irrational (2008) describes how the magazine offered a digital subscription for $59, a print subscription for $125, and a combined print and online subscription for the same price of $125. The print-only subscription was clearly a decoy, designed to make the combined subscription seem like a better value, and it worked; the presence of the decoy significantly increased the uptake of the combined subscription.

While psychologists are still debating the exact reasons for this cognitive bias, one theory suggests that the decoy provides a straightforward justification for a decision that might otherwise seem arbitrary.

Idea for Impact: If you run a business, you too can use the decoy effect to steer consumers towards certain purchasing decisions that benefit your bottom line. By strategically adding a decoy product to your offerings, you can provide perceived value for your customers while boosting your profits.

The Longest Holdout: The Shoichi Yokoi Fallacy

May 22, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

In 1972, while hunting near the Talofofo River in Guam, two cousins from the village of Talofofo were startled by rustling sounds emanating from the tall reeds. Initially, they assumed it was an animal or a hidden child, but to their surprise, they came face to face with an elderly and disheveled man clutching a shrimp trap. This unexpected encounter took aback the hunters, and after some initial confusion, they captured the man and escorted him back to their makeshift jungle home, about an hour’s walk away. The old man pleaded with the cousins to end his life.

That fugitive turned out to be Shoichi Yokoi, a Japanese soldier. During the latter stages of World War II, Yokoi served in the supply corps of the Japanese army stationed on the island of Guam. In 1944, when General Douglas MacArthur’s troops invaded and reclaimed control of the island, Yokoi retreated into the dense jungle. There, he sought refuge in an underground cave and remained hidden for 28 years, living as a determined survivor under harsh conditions.

Yokoi sustained himself by inhabiting a tunnel-like cave he had carved amidst the thick foliage, relying on a diet of nuts, fruits, shrimp, frogs, and rats. He fashioned his clothing by skillfully weaving tree bark strips and using the moon’s phases to track time. In 1952, he chanced upon a leaflet announcing the war’s end, but he and his fellow soldiers dismissed it as enemy propaganda, choosing not to surrender. Over time, all of Yokoi’s comrades perished due to starvation or illness, or were captured.

Loyalty Without a Glance Can Shroud the Mind in Ignorance

Yokoi remained firmly convinced that his fellow soldiers would eventually come to rescue him, and he clung tenaciously to this belief. Surrender was out of the question, as he later explained, “We Japanese soldiers were taught to choose death over the shame of being taken alive.” (Additionally, stragglers like him believed that returning to Japan was impossible, fearing they would be branded as deserters and face the death penalty.)

In 1972, Yokoi finally returned to Japan, where he was hailed as a national hero. Upon his arrival in Tokyo, he famously declared, “It is with much embarrassment that I have returned alive,” echoing the indoctrination he had received before the war. For the older generation, he symbolized greatness, embodying the prewar values of diligence. However, for the younger generation, he represented an awkward reminder of outdated ideals. Being captured and surviving was deemed cowardly, as the ideal soldier made the ultimate sacrifice for the divine emperor, even at the cost of his own life.

Yokoi’s remarkable story of surviving in the jungle captured the imagination of the Japanese people. The country was undergoing an industrial boom, and many were fascinated by his ability to endure on a meager diet and his resourcefulness in creating clothing from tree bark. Yokoi even returned his army-issued rifle to “the honorable emperor,” expressing his embarrassment at having returned alive rather than dying in service to the emperor. He regretted not having served his majesty to the fullest.

However, Yokoi never quite felt at home in modern society. Before his conscription in 1941, he had been an apprentice tailor, and now, he found himself overwhelmed by the changes that had occurred during his absence. He subsequently led a quiet life as a hermit, becoming a popular television personality and advocating for a simple way of life. He traveled across the country, delivering public lectures criticizing Japan’s “wasteful modern lifestyle” and championing values of thrift and self-reliance. He was deeply admired for his unwavering determination, his spirit of ganbaru (“enduring adversity without giving in,”) and his unwavering commitment to traditional values.

Embrace the Gifts That Doubt Can Bring. Let Enlightenment Take Flight.

Overall, Yokoi spent 27 years in isolation in the jungles of Guam, stubbornly holding onto his identity as a Japanese soldier long after the war had ended. In doing so, he squandered his life by adhering to ideals that held no significance for anyone else, sacrificing his relationships, career, and personal happiness to pursue the Japanese principle of ganbaru, or unwavering perseverance.

There reaches a point where virtue, taken to the extreme, can transform into a vice. Shoichi Yokoi personified this fallacy. We often admire the act of unwavering commitment, but we tend to lose sight of the underlying reasons behind it due to the blinding effects of rigid adherence.

Beware of blind devotion to any ideology that promotes rigid and restrictive beliefs. Do not overestimate the value of your morals beyond their practical utility, and be receptive to changing your perspective when circumstances demand it. This requires reevaluating your priorities and recognizing that what you once cherished may no longer align with your desires or aspirations. When faced with new information or situations, consider the possibility of altering your stance. There is a difference between sticking to your principles and being imprudent.

Inspirational Quotations #998

May 21, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi

A minority is only thought of as a minority when it constitutes some kind of a threat to the majority, real or imaginary.
—Christopher Isherwood (Anglo-American Novelist, Playwright)

Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education; they grow there, firm as weeds among stones.
—Charlotte Bronte (English Novelist, Poet)

It’s the quality of the ordinary, the straight, the square, that accounts for the great stability and success of our nation. It’s a quality to be proud of. But it’s a quality that many people seem to have neglected.
—Gerald Ford (American Head of State)

Life without commitment is not worth living.
—Abraham Joshua Heschel (American Jewish Rabbi)

The best career advice to give to the young is “Find out what you like doing best and get someone to pay you for doing it.”
—Katharine Whitehorn (English Journalist)

Only a few of us are going to be willing to break our own hearts by trading in the living beauty of imagination for the stark disappointment of words.
—Ann Patchett (American Novelist)

Men are often capable of greater things than they perform. They are sent into the world with bills of credit, and seldom draw to their full extent.
—Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (English Intellectual, Politician)

A physician can sometimes parry the scythe of death, but has no power over the sand in the hourglass.
—Hester Thrale (Welsh Writer)

You can practice shooting eight hours a day, but if your technique is wrong, then all you become is very good at shooting the wrong way. Get the fundamentals down and the level of everything you do will rise.
—Michael Jordan (American Sportsperson)

Nothing violent, oft have I heard tell, can be permanent.
—Christopher Marlowe (English Playwright)

It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (American Philosopher)

Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind.
—Philippine Proverb

Why Your Hobbies Don’t Need to Be Perfect

May 18, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

In a captivating op-ed, Columbia law professor Tim Wu explores how the pursuit of perfection has infiltrated and corrupted the realm of leisure.

If you’re a jogger, it is no longer enough to cruise around the block; you’re training for the next marathon. If you’re a painter, you are no longer passing a pleasant afternoon, just you, your watercolors and your water lilies; you are trying to land a gallery show or at least garner a respectable social media following.

Lost here is the gentle pursuit of a modest competence, the doing of something just because you enjoy it, not because you are good at it … alien values like “the pursuit of excellence” have crept into and corrupted what was once the realm of leisure, leaving little room for the true amateur.

The demands of modern life and the pressure to be constantly productive have turned hobbies into serious endeavors. The pursuit of excellence, Wu argues, is at odds with true freedom and can lead to feelings of self-judgment and inadequacy. “Demanding excellence in all that we do steals from us one of life’s greatest rewards—the simple pleasure of doing something you merely, but truly, enjoy.”

Idea for Impact: Abandon the desire to excel and fully embrace the pure delight that hobbies bring. Let them be the sanctuary where the soul can sustain itself.

The #1 Tip for New Managers to Succeed

May 15, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

New managers are under pressure. Most managers are underprepared for the transition into new roles—and undersupported during them. In fact, the revolving door is turning more swiftly as companies are seeking quick results. New managers must immediately tackle challenges and demonstrate their competencies instead of having a grace period to find their footing and mull changes.

When taking on a new management position, adaptability to the unique culture and ways of doing things is the key to success. You must quickly throw yourself into the work and learn who’s who, who does what, and how your company operates.

Idea for Impact: Balance the pressure to show results quickly, understanding what significant changes are needed. First, talk to your constituencies (internal and external customers, competitors, leaders, employees) and lay out a road plan for the next three months, one year, and three years. Manage expectations and don’t overcommit.

Inspirational Quotations #997

May 14, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi

Her new bark is worse than ten times her old bite.
—James Russell Lowell (American Poet, Critic)

If a snake bites your neighbor, you too are in danger.
—African Proverb

The only practical way yet discovered by the world for curing its ills is to forget about them.
—Ben Hecht (American Screenwriter)

The essence of romantic love is that wonderful beginning, after which sadness and impossibility may become the rule.
—Anita Brookner (English Novelist, Art Historian)

Whenever you feel ‘short’ or in ‘need’ of something, give what you want first and it will come back in buckets. That is true for money, a smile, love, friendship. I know it is often the last thing a person may want to do, but it has always worked for me. I just trust that the principle of reciprocity is true, and I give what I want.
—Robert Kiyosaki (American Businessperson)

The bees can abide no drones amongst them; but as soon as they begin to be idle, they kill them.
—Plato (Ancient Greek Philosopher)

Don’t be a slave to style. Don’t take more from the world than you’re willing to give back. And learn to undo the perceptions—so heavily promoted by the media—that shopping is a form of therapy and that a purchase is nothing but a victory or a gain.
—Thanissaro Bhikkhu (American Buddhist Monk)

Just understand your mind: how it works, how attachment and desire arise, how ignorance arises, where emotions come from. It is sufficient to know the nature of all that; just that gives so much happiness and peace.
—Lama Thubten Yeshe (Tibetan Buddhist Teacher)

Strength just comes in one brand – you. Stand up at sunrise and meet what they send you and keep your hair combed.
—Reynolds Price (American Novelist)

If you don’t get a kick out of the job you’re doing you’d better hunt for another one.
—Samuel M. Vauclain (American Industrialist)

Who is so deafe or so blinde as is hee that wilfully will neither heare nor see?
—John Heywood

A man is well equipped for all the real necessities of life if he trusts his senses, and so cultivates them that they remain worthy of being trusted.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (German Poet)

Don’t Outsource a Strategic Component of Your Business

May 11, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

The prescription eyeglasses retailer Warby Parker was launched by four drinking buddies at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The founders intended to disrupt a high-profit margin industry by taking out the intermediary.

Selling prescription eyeglasses online (Warby Parker mostly sells via brick-and-mortar today) would also defy skeptics who preferred to see certain things—shoes, diamond rings, cars—in person and were disinclined to get them online. Warby Parker’s incumbent competitors, 39DollarGlasses.com and EyeBuyDirect.com, had sloppy websites. A crucial part of Warby Parker’s startup plan was to start a user-friendly website where shoppers could upload a photograph of themselves and try on glasses virtually.

At first, the founders outsourced the website, resulting in disastrous consequences. In an interview with Fortune magazine (1-Jun-2019,) co-founder & co-CEO David Gilboa reflected on the pitfalls of outsourcing critical business components:

None of us [the founders] was qualified to build the website, so we solicited proposals and got a handful of bids from agencies. We chose the cheapest option, but a few months in, we realized it was a mistake. Their execution wasn’t what they promised. So we ended up firing them.

Now we develop most of the technology we use in-house to ensure we maintain as much control over the customer experience as possible. We’ve developed our website and both of our apps internally.

Idea for Impact: Don’t outsource what you’re supposed to do best.

Outsourcing a core function may give you a short-term uplift, but you’ll fail to create the core expertise within your company. That’s necessary to build a sustainable competitive advantage. The vendor just isn’t as invested in your success.

Building know-how internally is more challenging, but it’ll pay off in the long run. Sure, you may need to tap an outsourced hire for specialized expertise that you lack. But concentrate on developing your core functions in-house. In fact, be as micro-managey as possible in the early days.

Leverage outside help for bookkeeping, legal, and everything else that doesn’t generate a competitive advantage.

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Loyalty Without a Glance Can Shroud the Mind in Ignorance

Embrace the Gifts That Doubt Can Bring. Let Enlightenment Take Flight.

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Idea for Impact: Don’t outsource what you’re supposed to do best.

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