Here is a bold statement, “inspection doesn’t work“; (literally bold). Yet every organisation I have ever worked for uses and pays for quality controllers. They can’t all be wrong can they? What makes me think I am so right? Maybe, if you read this I will convince you: The shadow illusion. Or perhaps this: Fooling […]
Archives for January 2013
“Group Think” is no Laughing Matter
In the 1970’s the psychologist Irving Janis coined the term “group think” to explain why group pressure results in poor decisions, or, as he explained it, why groups show: A deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgement That is a little more erudite than the way I would put it, but the phrase […]
Regression to The Mean
Is the Stick Mightier Than the Carrot? Psychologists will tell you that carrots are a far more productive strategy than sticks. You might think this is a blindingly obvious statement, but the facts don’t always support it. Sometimes the psychologists are proven wrong, often by a case of “regression to the mean”. That is exactly […]