The Upside of Irrationality

We often share stories and learning’s from publications we’ve recently enjoyed reading, and subsequently muse how they might relate to the world of Insight Engineers. As a result, this blog post is my opportunity to add to your recommended ‘Reading List’ for the Summer, especially as the option no longer exists on LinkedIn! So for starters, I’d recommend Dan Ariely’s “The Upside of Irrationality” for some great insight in to human behaviour. Dan is Professor of Psychology and Behavioural Economics at Duke University in the US, and in “The Upside of Irrationality”, shares his findings from personal observation and primary academic research, by exploring themes such as performance bonuses, the joy of work, revenge, adaption, assortative mating, empathy and decisions based upon emotions. For a more profitable future, Dan concludes that business should learn from these lessons in understanding our irrationalities by implementing a few simple changes in everyday behaviour. Next up for me is Dan’s earlier book, “Predictably Irrational” – I’ll let you know how I get on…in the meantime, happy reading! P.S. If you’re interested, Quirks have a few more reading suggestions too.