If you’ve read Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink, you might think there’s no need to pick up another book on pretty much the same subject. And you are quite right. But if you’d like to delve deeper into the science behind that sixth sense, read on. “The real question is not if but when can we trust our guts?” and that’s what Gut Feelings answers from a research standpoint.

Gerd Gigerenzer knows his stuff. A psychology professor and director of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, he has spent a lifetime studying the subject. Luckily, the book is a dumbed down version for you and me.

Essentially, gut feelings work because of two components — simple rules of thumb, which, in turn, take advantage of evolved capacities of the brain.

Gut Feelings examines these rules of thumb or ‘heuristics’ and shows how these can be applied to practical situations. For example, is it better to follow the calculated advice provided by an investment expert? Or a simple rule of thumb such as the 1/N rule (allocate your money equally to each of N funds).

A study by Nobel Prize winning economist Harry Markowitz found that no optimal asset allocation policy could outperform the simple 1/N rule. So, the next time you see an analyst with a ‘know it all’ expression nodding at you from the TV screen you can just change channels.

The ‘less is more’ theme dominates the book. ‘Tit for tat’, the author argues, is more effective than the Biblical tenet ‘turn the other cheek’. And here’s a ‘tit for tat’ which Gigerenzer recommends for navigating the minefield of marriage: “Be kind first, keep a memory size of one, and imitate your partner’s last behaviour.” That is easier said than done, of course!

The author explains how collective wisdom emerges from individual ignorance. For example, when a group of lay people were asked to predict the outcome of Wimbledon 2005, they outperformed the experts. The amateurs based their predictions on the ‘recognition heuristic’, that is, whether they had heard of a player or not.

The tendency of people to ‘go with what they know’ is the reason companies spend millions to stick their brand names in our face. But it goes beyond that. The power of recognition is such that the mind is lulled into a false sense of preference. For example, beer drinkers will claim a favourite personal brand “tastes better than others”. Yet blind taste tests show that people are unable to pick out this favourite brand in the absence of a label.

Gigerenzer makes an interesting point about less being more when it comes to healthcare. Doctors, he claims, can improve their decision-making by using a ‘fast and frugal tree’ in emergency situations. However, most continue to over-diagnose and over-treat owing to fear of malpractice suits.

GERD GIGERENZER, is director of the Centre for Adaptive Behaviour and Cognition at the Max Plank Institute for Human Development in Berlin, Germany. He has won numerous awards, including the AAAS Prize for Behavioural Science Research, and is the author of several books

The final chapters of the book are on weighty subjects such as moral behaviour. The US has a perennial shortage of organ donors while the French have no such problem. Are the French more generous, or more moral? No, the simple explanation is that in France, Austria and Hungary everyone is a potential donor unless they opt out. In the US you have to opt to be a donor.

The author concludes that the “default set by institutions can have considerable impact on economic as well as moral behaviour”. And what would be the link between morality and gut feeling? Moral grammar is also intuitive and follows rules of thumb. After all, God revealed only ten commandments to Moses. Had legal advisers existed back then, imagine how many clauses and amendments they would have added…

It’s wry observations like these that keep you turning the somewhat dense pages. The most interesting anecdote of all is about the fall of the Berlin Wall. Gigerenzer uses the example to make a case for the positive impact of rumour and wishful thinking. However, as any Indian would tell him, that’s also the perfect recipe for starting a riot.
All in all, Gut Feelings is arresting in parts but not memorable as a whole. Skim through, instead of ploughing through every page.

Rashmi Bansal is the editor of JAM, a youth magazine

I am reading CITY OF DJINNS by WILLIAM DALRYMPLE. I picked it up because I have been fascinated by the city of Delhi and its history, its unique blend of cultures and have always wondered what made it so.

Books which have shades of real history interest me a lot, so yes, this is one of the genres I read. I also like management books and pure fiction as well.

I primarily buy after personal references. When people talk about books, I note down the ones that interest me and then pick them up from airports while travelling.

Clarence Thomas is a Justice in the US Supreme Court. His book is a personal tale of the struggles he faced against racism, abandonment and poverty. What is different about this book though, is that it is not written like your typical rags to riches story. My Father’s Son is an honest, straight-from-the-heart book that is as blunt about the negativities of growing up black in America, as it is full of hope and faith in a country that was founded on the ideals of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” for all men.

Those who can’t do, teach. And their books become best-sellers. If one can put aside this mindset before reading the book, Chocolates on the pillow aren’t enough... is a gold mine of anecdotes on customer satisfaction.

In his book Jonathan Tisch, chairman and CEO of Loews Hotels, tries to provide a solution to the basic problem faced by all businesses — bored customers with plenty of choice. The magic words being memorable customer experiences. “People remember experiences, not attributes,” he says — the essence of his book.

The book is divided into two parts. The first deals with the reasons behind the increasing lack of customer loyalty and the key to customer retention. Tisch asserts that one doesn’t have to be an anthropologist to have insights about, or provide, total customer experiences. Instead, we need only be human. Recognising touch-points with customers and simplifying processes for them are basics that businesses must return to.

The second, more extensive section provides basic steps to “reimaging the customer experience”. The chapters in this section, have more substantial take-aways. Tisch forces the reader to accept the negative perception of ‘selling’ and salesmen. He himself, however, doesn’t hesitate to invite the reader to visit a Lowe hotel at any available opportunity.
Approaching customers as guests and providing them with a good welcome is the first step in the ‘reimaging’ process. Giving ‘guests’ a sense of security and the comfort of being on top of things follow. He points out that when one can’t avoid inconveniencing customers, transparency softens the hurt.

Every chapter is followed by the ‘Big AHA’s’ section where Tisch highlights and re-iterates key learnings.

Personally, a skill such as having an eye for customer satisfaction is innate. Either you have it or you don’t. Reading books such as this, can only provide one with successful examples. Do emulate, but don't depend on success.

Be A Tough Cookie
Anup Jayaram

How do you do things that most people would not expect you to do? Simply ‘Be Unreasonable’. After all, being reasonable is so commonplace and boring. That's what Paul Lemberg, the chief business accelerator and CEO of Quantum Growth Consulting emphasises for today's businessman. The beauty of the book is that you need not read it at one go. One can read bits and pieces. Simply read one chapter and mull over what Lemberg has specified. Obviously, you will emerge different from the rest. That, in today's world, could prove to be quite important.

Over six chapters the book tells you how to be unreasonable in strategy, thinking, tactics and also in execution. It starts off with an ‘Unreasonable Manifesto’ on how to be unreasonable.

A classic case that Lemberg cites is to offer a free maintenance contract to a user in the first year. That’s because the chances of a problem in the first year are remote. In later years, charge more and make up for the first year. In other words, be unreasonable in lowering your price.

Isn't that something that most companies do even today? What he offers you to do is to look at things from a totally different perspective. And in case you don’t know something, make no bones about it.

So simply go ahead and break the rules. After all, all you need to do is to be unreasonable. That should not be too difficult to practise.