Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior

If you want to understand the reasons behind irrational behaviour, "Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely" is a much better choice.

The authors of "Sway" preferred storytelling to detailed explanation to explain irrational behaviours. Although their stories are mildly entertaining, they lack the depth and details of Ariely's book. Unless you are looking for superficial answers to irrational behaviours, I would recommend you invest a few more hours in reading Ariely's book and get a much better understanding.

I really enjoyed listening to Sway. The authors gave great examples of poor decision making They backed up the examples by laying out a "research supported" framework that helped explain what caused these bad decisions to occur. Further, they also laid out frameworks of decision making designed to avoid making poor decision. Narration was solid.

Fans of Malcolm Gladwell (especially “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Make a Big Difference,” 2000 and “Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking,” 2005) will appreciate Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman’s “Sway: The Irresistible Power of Irrational Behavior” I have all of Gladwell’s books. In hardback. And I really liked “Sway”. Actually, “Sway” was an easier read/listen. “Sway” has a lot more anecdotal stories to illustrate the points the Brothers Brafman are making.

My favorite chapter was Eight, “Dissenting Justice.” The Brafmans have the most thorough and easy to understand discussion of how the US Supreme Court reviews cases it decides to hear. The purpose of Supreme Courts conferences is to determine how the Court will rule, and the process – honed over hundreds of years – is to make rational decisions, and to respect the voices of dissent. Very few organizations, business or government, would have the time or discipline to engage in the same process – but a modified procedure, encouraging similar careful consideration of the facts, would be well applied used in corporate decision making processes.

Chapter Seven, “Cocaine and Compassion” was a close second to Chapter Eight. In “Cocaine and Compassion”, the Brafmans discuss the difference between pleasure center motivation (money, cocaine) and altruistic motivation. The bottom line is that people are more likely to cooperate and perform well for altruistic reasons – and, for biological reasons, the motivation is going to be either pleasure or altruism, but not both at the same time.

Altruism is discussed extensively in Adam Grant’s 2013 “Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success.” “Sway” was easier to understand, and I think I would have had an easier time with “Give and Take” if I’d read/listened to “Sway” first.

I liked parts of “Sway” so much, I listened to parts of it more than once.

The narration was good, but I could have done without the random music – I wasn’t sure what sections it was setting apart.

SWAY opens your Eyes to understanding irrational behavior.

I could begin to understand my own actions over the past years.

Not really, but it made me think more deeply.

I passed this book over several times because of a couple of bad reviews. The truth is, if you enjoy your information delivered through narrative, you'll like this book very much.

The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior by Ori Brafman, Rom Brafman is a sweet, short popularizer of the current social psych and behavioral econ research.

This book copies/steals the general format and concepts of past books on the same subject (e.g., Black Swan). The problem is the authors just aren't at the same intellectual caliber as the others. Many of the long stories, aren't that interesting and come from the "Academy for Proving the Incredibly Obvious." Other interpretations of contrived class-room games are just plain bizarre (e.g., bids on $20 bill above $20 come from poorly designed game where people don't just cut their losses--author ties this in a tendentious way to U.S. in Iraq).

Seemed like a less interesting version of Freakonomics.

The author does an excellent job of using specific examples to help illustrate the lessons. The listener is given both the theoretical (for more abstract thinkers), and specific examples to help others relate and understand. Very informative, and exceptionally well organized.

I like it.

Too hard to choose.

No, too much to absorb in one sitting.

Good information about how we all make decisions. Helpful in keeping our heads properly attached... even if we aren't always able to.