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| Vol.3.65 | |
Mind Games Coming in 2009by Vince PoscenteAuthor of The Ant and the Elephant, Invinceable Principles and The Age of Speed There's a common assumption that we humans don't like change. Really? If we didn't like change then we'd still be running around hunting for dinner and wondering what this whole fire thing was all about. The fact is we love change as long as it involves some gain. If we sense some kind of loss we categorize the change as bad. The recent US elections ran on a platform of change. The highest optimism rating in American history for an incoming President is a reflection of the belief that things will indeed change for the better. In studies by Professor N. Nicholson "loss aversion" means humans avoid loss when threatened and are curious about change when they feel safe. Loss aversion can be a mind game.
2009 is a year that promises a bunch of mind games about who might take your cookies. How will you look at the 2009 cookie jar? Will you evaluate your decisions based on an aversion for loss or will you frame it as an opportunity for gain? People who unconsciously allow loss aversion to kick-in will resist change outright. People who deliberately see the opportunity to gain will step up with a game plan. In January we will offer a game plan to accelerate gain in 2009. More on that next month. Until next week it’s full speed ahead,
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© 2010 Vince Poscente. All Rights Reserved. |
In Robert Cialdini 's book Influence he describes a study related to loss aversion. Participants were asked to rate the desirability of cookies if given two or ten cookies. Particularly interesting was the scenario where a participant had some cookies taken away after starting with ten. Before the participant could taste one he was interrupted by the researcher holding a jar of just two cookies. Apologizing for the mix up, the participant was told that his jar with ten cookies were for another purpose. Given the sudden experience of loss these participants rated the desirability of the two cookies the highest of all scenarios.