You think work needs to be rational, and the Nobel Prize winner tells you that rationality will only ruin your future

Usually, we think that making a decision through rational thinking is an unquestionably correct choice, because it is too unreliable to make a decision without rationality!

Especially in the workplace, people who think rationally are often able to gain the upper hand in the workplace. For example, he can cut through all kinds of troubles, and at a glance, he can clearly see the way to go in the future, and how to go is the best way. And if you meet an irrational colleague and do things by feeling, it will be a workplace disaster.

However, Richard Taylor, who won the 2017 Nobel Prize in Economics, told us, wrong!

He found that perfectly rational people do not exist. Various so-called rational behaviors that people do at work are influenced by various "irrational".

You think work needs to be rational, and the Nobel Prize winner tells you that rationality will only ruin your future

We all hope that we can be rational when facing work, but it is really difficult

It is also many of the decisions or behaviors that we consider rational that cause those plans that "look great" to fail or even lead to bad results.

What is the source of irrationality?

01 Cognitive Dissonance

This is a psychological term, which means that our behavior and cognition cannot be consistent, resulting in contradictions, and then an uncomfortable state in our hearts.

At this time, we usually choose to adjust our cognition to adapt to our behavior, that is, to rationalize our behavior and make ourselves feel more comfortable.

For example, when I was working, I knew that the plan would be submitted tomorrow, and if I didn’t do it today, it would be too late, but I still faced the pressure, opened the circle of friends, liked and commented. At the same time, he also comforted himself: "Relax, it will help improve work efficiency."

02 Confirmation Bias

It means that when people encounter opinions and information that are different from their own, they will deliberately look for various evidences to support their opinions.

For example, a colleague told me that rainy days are always bad luck, and then blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. At first, I didn't care about this fallacy. However, subconsciously, I began to pay attention to the fact that it would be bad luck if it rained. In particular, I have had bad luck a few times on rainy days. Either I forgot to bring documents when I went out, or my clothes were stained by the water splashed by the car, and it seemed that all kinds of things went wrong when I went to work.

You think work needs to be rational, and the Nobel Prize winner tells you that rationality will only ruin your future

We all have cognitive dissonance

Needless to say, I would feel that bad luck on a rainy day does happen.

Also, we usually say that this person is also this type of "aftermath".

Since people are irrational animals, how do we use "irrational" methods to get the boss at work

Or what about colleagues making "rational" decisions?

In The Law of the Lizard Brain, Jim Cummings, Ph.D. in sociology at the University of Chicago, has several suggestions for us.

01 Be consistent first, then divert attention

Dale Carnegie once said

"The only way to influence people in this world is to talk to people about what they want and tell them how to get it."

For example, if we want to tell a colleague that seeing a client dress casually is not good, it will leave an unprofessional impression on the client.

Because of confirmation bias, my colleagues will only think that "how I dress is my own business. I'm negotiating a contract with a client, does it matter how I dress?", but completely ignore it. The first impression is that a contract was negotiated. One of the necessary conditions is that the clothes are casually dressed, and the impression left on the customer will be greatly reduced.

Then we dress casually. First, we should be consistent with our colleagues, so as to avoid conflicts with colleagues. Then, we can use the inner thoughts of our colleagues to shift his focus, so as to change his behavior and fix his colleagues. .

02 Deeply explore inner needs and motivations

How to know the inner thoughts and needs of colleagues?

Discover the true motivation for his inner work.

It's important to note that we're going to find out, not ask, because we don't even know what we want, and the answers that are usually given are not true.

For example, there is the famous "suspension bridge effect", in which male participants are individually met with a woman of ordinary appearance, only one group is on the road, and the other group is on a crumbling suspension bridge.

After contacting Ms.'s participants, the suspension bridge group was much more than the road group. The suspension bridge team mistakenly believed that the rapid heartbeat caused by the fear of the suspension bridge was a feeling of heartbeat for the lady.

Intrinsic motivation is "what you want". Because everyone defines what they want differently. For example, the same definition of happiness, some people think that a happy family is happy, and some people think that having a house, a car, leisure and money is happiness.

Therefore, we should use excavation to discover the true inner thoughts of the other party, instead of asking, otherwise the information obtained may be wrong.

For example, a colleague works to make money, and the money is made to be able to buy a set of game equipment that has been longing for a long time. This shifts the focus from the clothes to the gaming device he aspires to.

03Fixing omissions and filling vacancies to ensure the successful completion of the work

Often, we want to convince our boss or co-workers to do what we want.

Doing something is often done in several steps from start to finish. There are many uncontrollable factors and accidents in the middle. The purpose of checking and filling vacancies is to prevent accidents in one of the steps and cause things to fail.

You think work needs to be rational, and the Nobel Prize winner tells you that rationality will only ruin your future

Uncovering the underlying motivation of the persuaded can help us successfully persuade the other person

Just as we need to negotiate contracts with customers, we need to consider customer requirements for products, price conditions, and content of post-service services. There are advantages and disadvantages compared to similar products. Then, in the process of negotiation, we will continue to solve various questions and requirements raised by customers until the customer is satisfied and signs the contract.

In the workplace, if you want to complete the work 100% successfully, you must not make mistakes in the process, or correct them in time after you find them.

Therefore, we have to check it from the beginning to the end, and fill in all the loopholes that can cause problems, and the other party will naturally act according to the method you set.