Predictably irrational like me

These days I have been stumbling a lot(easiest and cheapest way to kill time). An interesting page came up whose page was titled Predictably irrational. The title sounded interesting. So I checked it out.

The article is essentially an outline of a book. The book deals with psychology of the human mind in decision making and how the decisions are affected by other factors. An interesting read. The experiments carried out by the experimenters are fascinating and the conclusions drawn from them are all the more 'unsurprising'. I read them and found myself saying "Hey, that is so true with me".

I especially liked the subject titled "The cost of Social Norms". It has an interesting take on start-ups. It goes like this:
"It's remarkable how much work companies (particularly start-ups) can get out of people when social norms (such as the excitement of building something together) are stronger than market norms (such as salaries stepping up with each promotion)."
I immediately could identify myself with it having worked in a start-up. Imho, an even greater challenge that a start-up faces is when it enters a transition phase from being a 'new born' start-up to 'teenager' semi mature company. Now, in a semi mature company, since the product has reached a certain level of maturity, new exciting work (a.k.a. cutting edge tech. or bleeding edge) may not be available to all. A few chosen ones get the 'new exciting work' whereas the rest get the mundane maintenance activity. The 'market norm' kicks in and the company starts treating a few on an impersonal level because the carrot of "good work" can no more be shown. This in turn gives rise to disgruntled and frustrated employees. The employee no more works for his company but for himself. This attitude is hazardous to the start-up as it invariably leads to poor craftsmanship. This condition is irreversible. So, once an employee is treated with the attitude that "This is the work you are going to get, take it or leave it", the employee even if given better quality work in future, knows that he is dispensable and keeps on under performing.
The article makes a very good point about Company-consumer relationship that -
"Companies that try to market based on social norms ("like a good neighbor...") but fail to follow through (e.g. imposing nuisance fees) end up in a worse position. Consumers take personal offense when a relationship framed as a social exchange turns out to be a market one."
I believe it holds true for Employer-employee relationship too and hence start-ups need to double think before treating anyone with the "market norm". Guess, there would be exceptions to this rule too.

Other interesting conclusions were:
"The Influence of Arousal" : Now we know the scientific proof of the need of a skimpily clad model in almost all the ads. Hehehe :D

"Keeping Doors Open" : How many times have I waited until the last moment to choose or until one choice has disappeared?

The article has some real life examples of each implication. Worth a read:)