adminShelter Chieza Change Management
A couple was going on vacation but the wife was on a business trip so the husband went ahead on his own and his wife was to follow the next day.
When he reached his hotel, he decided to send his wife a quick email. The husband wanted to inform his wife that he had arrived and settled in.Unfortunately, when typing her address, he mistyped a letter and his note was directed instead to an elderly preacher’s wife whose husband had passed away only the day before.
When the grieving widow checked her email, she took one look at the monitor, let out a piercing scream, and fell to the floor in a dead faint.
At the sound, her family rushed into the room and saw this note on the screen: “Dearest wife, just got checked in. Everything prepared for your arrival tomorrow. PS, sure is hot down here.”
I would do the same if I was in the same situation — sounds like the numerous instances of mistaken identity; misfired reaction and impulse reaction I have heard too many times. Research has shown that the brain becomes very active during impulsive decision-making moments.
For instance, you notice that a company’s share price has dropped — you make a choice to buy it before getting the full facts on the listed company.
Wikipedia suggests that there are several theories that explain impulsive buying. Impulse buying is usually influenced by a chain of reactions connected to the way someone has been exposed or informed and the reward at stake.
This is why individuals get shocked when someone chooses a lesser immediate reward over greater rewards.
For example, a person might choose to buy a magazine because they are displayed along the paying queues they are standing in.
In-store designers are well aware of this reaction — facilities design experts are good at making such derivations.
Let’s take for instance adverts that customers are exposed to. All of them vary greatly in their attempt to attract consumers.
Some highlight the product features, while others seem to be completely unrelated to the product they are trying to sell. It is the latter type of ads that shoppers need to be most wary of, according to a new study.
Advertising gurus call the first type logical persuasion, or LP. It presents facts about the product, such as average speed and fuel consumption per kilometre. The second type is referred to as non-rational influence because it circumvents consumers’ conscious awareness by depicting a fun, vague scene that seems to have nothing to do with the product.
If we were to compare managers and entrepreneurs, both make quality decisions, but those made by the latter tend to be more risky. Entrepreneurs have shown more flexible thinking and are more impulsive thinkers. In fact, research has it that risky or hot decision-making is an essential part of the entrepreneurial process and may be possible to teach, particularly in young adults where higher risk taking is likely and age-appropriate.
The recent decision by Nokia to sell its handset unit to Microsoft was quite a shocker for many to the point of some commentators exclaiming that it was a rush impulsive decision. I am informed that the price was just too low. When such decisions are made, people start debating on why Nokia would opt to sell the handset operations just as the success was returning to the smart-phone unit.
Nokia has reportedly been facing its toughest competition from the low-end Android vendor aggression in Africa, Latin America and Asia in the first half of this year.
That could explain why Whatsapp has been so popular in this country. The argument could be that the latest wave of US$100 smartphones from Google’s Asian allies had pushed Nokia’s feature phone business into such a tailspin that immediate measures were necessary.
I came across a brain blogger on the effects of Psychological Science recently and it contained an interesting study by a team in the Netherlands that evaluated how having a full bladder affected the ability to make decisions that required self-control.
First, volunteers in the study drank varying amounts of water. After 40 minutes the volunteers were asked to make decisions choosing between short- and long-term benefits. For example, in one decision, participants were asked to choose between receiving US$16 tomorrow or US$30 in 35 days.
Overall, people with full bladders held out for the larger, delayed reward. Just thinking about words related to urination also led to the same behaviour.
The authors assert that controlling one’s impulse allows you to control all impulses more effectively.
Impulsive business decisions made to acquire stakes in certain entities may be rewarding. Play it safe involves making the choice is the least amount of risk. And procrastination may well be on its way to becoming a decision-making style.
Till next week, may the Lord richly bless you.
Shelter Chieza is an adviser in management issues. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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