Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior
by Ori Brafman
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List Price: $21.95
Our Price: $12.49
Your Save: $ 9.46 ( 43% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Broadway Books
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 155.92
EAN: 9780385524384
ISBN: 0385524382
Label: Broadway Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 224
Publication Date: 2008-06-03
Publisher: Broadway Books
Release Date: 2008-06-03
Studio: Broadway Books
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Anecdotal enjoyment, but lacks depth and insight
Comment: SWAY helps to further the discussion of seemingly irrational human behavior through a series of interesting, enjoyable and quickly-read anecdotes about different physiological and psychological tricks the human mind plays in helping each of us to rationalize the decisions we make. From commitment bias to differences in mental cognition being affected by whether we are doing something for altruistic or financial reasons, the stories provide good reading. Unfortunately, the book is so driven by anecdotes and little stories that the authors fail to bring it together into a cohesive story that allows the reader to digest the points and gather greater insight. There are other books of similiar content that go deeper and with greater insight while still offering enjoyable anecdotes such as Nudge or Freakonomics.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but short and redundant
Comment: It's an interesting read. The authors make some good points and explain concepts in an easy-to-follow manner. However, the book is very short - 180 pages of text that are a fairly small size with large margins. The authors are also a bit redundant. There are some really good nuggets of information, but the same points are repeated several times.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good insights
Comment: Starts off a bit slow out offers some really excellent examples to demonstrate his key thesis. A solid primer especially for those in charge of HR or Marketing.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Nothing New
Comment: I didn't find the concepts in this book to be anything that I didn't already learn years ago in Psych 101. It's just Escalation of Commitment, Pygmalion Effect, etc. supported with stories and and sub-stories and countless tangents. It's almost exactly like a Gladwell book, but somehow just not as good. It's probably better to just buy a textbook. The info would be broader and deeper.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Dissapointing Rehash of Other, Better Books
Comment: I was excited when I purchased this book. I have read numerous titles in this genre, like Blink, Predictably Irrational, Influence, etc., and I was looking forward to more ineresting insights and anecdotes.
Unfortunately, almost the entire book has been covered (in more detail) by the books mentioned above.
I felt like I was reading a cliff's notes version of these previous works, with dumber (but warm!) authors.
If the book was just a regurgitation, I would let it slide. But, in some cases, the authors miss the point entirely.
For instance, when they are discussing the placebo effect, they mention the fact that "Prozac had about the same theapeutic effect" as a placebo (page 97).
They continue that although "the SSRI drugs are clinically ineffective, psychiatrists nevertheless kept diagnosing and prescribing. Once even the most seasoned professionals begin diagnosing, it's very hard to stop." (page 97 cont).
With a wave of the hand, the effectiveness of Prozac is disproven.
Or is it?
If these guys had bothered to read "13 Things That Dont Make Sense" by Michael Brooks, they might have uncovered the REALLY INTERESTING THING about Prozac and the placebo effect.
But no, instead they choose to become examples of the very dignostic bias that they advocate against.
This is one example. There are many, many more.
Sorry guys... you seem like nice fellows. But c'mon... if you are going to write a book, at least write one I haven't read before.
For any of the readers out there interested in original work, I recommend passing on this one and checking out some of these titles. They are MUCH better:
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Collins Business Essentials)
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
13 Things That Don't Make Sense: The Most Baffling Scientific Mysteries of Our Time
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Editorial Reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Anecdotal enjoyment, but lacks depth and insight
Comment: SWAY helps to further the discussion of seemingly irrational human behavior through a series of interesting, enjoyable and quickly-read anecdotes about different physiological and psychological tricks the human mind plays in helping each of us to rationalize the decisions we make. From commitment bias to differences in mental cognition being affected by whether we are doing something for altruistic or financial reasons, the stories provide good reading. Unfortunately, the book is so driven by anecdotes and little stories that the authors fail to bring it together into a cohesive story that allows the reader to digest the points and gather greater insight. There are other books of similiar content that go deeper and with greater insight while still offering enjoyable anecdotes such as Nudge or Freakonomics.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but short and redundant
Comment: It's an interesting read. The authors make some good points and explain concepts in an easy-to-follow manner. However, the book is very short - 180 pages of text that are a fairly small size with large margins. The authors are also a bit redundant. There are some really good nuggets of information, but the same points are repeated several times.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good insights
Comment: Starts off a bit slow out offers some really excellent examples to demonstrate his key thesis. A solid primer especially for those in charge of HR or Marketing.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Nothing New
Comment: I didn't find the concepts in this book to be anything that I didn't already learn years ago in Psych 101. It's just Escalation of Commitment, Pygmalion Effect, etc. supported with stories and and sub-stories and countless tangents. It's almost exactly like a Gladwell book, but somehow just not as good. It's probably better to just buy a textbook. The info would be broader and deeper.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Dissapointing Rehash of Other, Better Books
Comment: I was excited when I purchased this book. I have read numerous titles in this genre, like Blink, Predictably Irrational, Influence, etc., and I was looking forward to more ineresting insights and anecdotes.
Unfortunately, almost the entire book has been covered (in more detail) by the books mentioned above.
I felt like I was reading a cliff's notes version of these previous works, with dumber (but warm!) authors.
If the book was just a regurgitation, I would let it slide. But, in some cases, the authors miss the point entirely.
For instance, when they are discussing the placebo effect, they mention the fact that "Prozac had about the same theapeutic effect" as a placebo (page 97).
They continue that although "the SSRI drugs are clinically ineffective, psychiatrists nevertheless kept diagnosing and prescribing. Once even the most seasoned professionals begin diagnosing, it's very hard to stop." (page 97 cont).
With a wave of the hand, the effectiveness of Prozac is disproven.
Or is it?
If these guys had bothered to read "13 Things That Dont Make Sense" by Michael Brooks, they might have uncovered the REALLY INTERESTING THING about Prozac and the placebo effect.
But no, instead they choose to become examples of the very dignostic bias that they advocate against.
This is one example. There are many, many more.
Sorry guys... you seem like nice fellows. But c'mon... if you are going to write a book, at least write one I haven't read before.
For any of the readers out there interested in original work, I recommend passing on this one and checking out some of these titles. They are MUCH better:
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Collins Business Essentials)
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
13 Things That Don't Make Sense: The Most Baffling Scientific Mysteries of Our Time
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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