Sublime

data-analytic and gamification approach to recruiting

some marketing fiercely backfire? Why is human behavior the wrong thing to predict? What should all businesses learn about persuasion from presidential

an informed optimist

You are more likely to learn something by finding surprises in your own behavior than by hearing surprising facts about people in general.

“The big choices we make are practically random. The small choices probably tell us more about who we are. Which field we go into may depend on which high school teacher we happen to meet. Who we marry may depend on who happens to be around at the right time of life. On the other hand, the small decisions are very systematic. That I became a psycho

In each of these cases, the companies not only know the generalized probability of some behavior, they can make incredibly accurate predictions about how individual customers are going to behave.

How do you make an informed decision when the very act of informing it jeopardizes the outcome?

Indeed, because of Super Crunching, firms sometimes may be able to make more accurate predictions about how you’ll behave than you could ever make yourself.

The clear-cut impact of a gift’s unexpectedness became evident when the waitress tried yet a third technique. After offering guests one chocolate from her basket and turning to walk away, she unexpectedly returned to the table and offered a second chocolate to each diner. As a result, her average tip improved by 21.3 percent.