" In-Flight Purchases Depend on What Your Neighbor Does "

Buying Behaviour

" In-Flight Purchases Depend on What Your Neighbor Does "

Research Finding :
Seeing someone buy something makes us more likely to do the same.

Sample Segment :
  Analyzing data on in-flight purchases to understand social effects in purchase behavior, it was found that m when passengers see someone next to them make a purchase, they’re 30% more likely, on average, to buy something themselves !

This did not hold true if they saw a purchase by someone sitting behind them or diagonally in front of them.

And the likelihood that a passenger will buy something DOUBLES,  if the person making a purchase next to them is someone they KNOW.
Reason :
Friends and peers have a lot of sway over what we buy and when we buy it .

Research Conducted by :
 Pedro M. Gardete at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.

( Research Finding ) What makes, a Good Day at office / workplace ?

( Research Finding  )  What makes, a Good Day at office / workplace ?

The most common event that triggered  most people's best days on the job was - MAKING PROGRESS in their work.
The event that triggered their worst days was experiencing a setback. This is the 'progress principle'  made visible !

If a person is motivated and happy at the end of the workday, it's a good bet that he or she made some progress , on some aspect !

 If the person drags out of the office disengaged and joyless, a setback is most likely to blame.

 In addition, triggers  called  ' inhibitors'  and toxins  ,  were found to be  rare -  on great days of work.

Sample Size :
According to almost 12,000 diary entries by over 200 people on project teams  . All these professionals were asked to keep a daily diary and record their day's experience and events ( and how they reacted to those events ) for 60 days .

Research Conducted by : 
 Teresa Amabile and Steven J. Kramer on HBR . org

Lateral Thinking " We Underestimate Our Own Ability to Generate Ideas "

Lateral Thinking
" We Underestimate Our Own Ability to Generate Ideas "

Research Finding :

People consistently underestimate the number of creative ideas they can come up with .

Sample Size & Experiment :
Step 1 :
In a study they conducted, 24 students were given 10 minutes to think of dishes to serve at a festival dinner.
Step 2 :
Next, the students had to predict how many more ideas they could generate if they kept going for 10 more minutes.
Step 3 :
Then they were asked to try to generate ideas for another 10 minutes.
Finding :
On average, they predicted they could generate around 10 new ideas if they persisted — but they were actually able to come up with around 15 !!
Several similar follow-up studies produced the same result !

The researchers also found that the ideas generated while persisting were, on average, rated more creative than those generated initially.

Conclusion drawn :
The authors say that we underestimate the benefits of persistence because creative challenges feel difficult !

Research Conducted by :
Brian J. Lucas of the Booth School of Business and Loran Nordgren of the Kellogg School of Management

" What should you do - if a Recruiter Is trying to poach One of Your Employees ? "

( HR challenges )
" What should you do - if a Recruiter Is trying to poach One of Your Employees ? "
If you have smart, talented people on your team, chances are they’ll get calls from recruiters ! It is inevitable, now or in future .

How should you respond when a competitor is wooing one of your employees?
First, watch for signs that someone is thinking of leaving.
If a team member is turned down for a promotion or has a project postponed, he might be more receptive to recruiters.
If you learn that a valuable employee is considering her options, take action.
What to do :
Have a frank conversation about what the person is thinking, and ask if there are simple things you can do to help her reconsider.
(Offering new challenges? Helping her join a board?).
What not to do : counter offer and its counter effects
And DON'T jump to a counteroffer !
People leave because they’re unhappy, so a counteroffer means you’re paying more , to keep an unhappy worker !
But even if someone does leave the company, keep it in perspective. For, sometimes people just need to move on ! "
Courtesy : HBR

" How Artists Can Collaborate With Less Creative Peers"

Management Tip - Team Work
" How Artists Can Collaborate With Less Creative Peers"
When creative projects struggle, a lack of good ideas is rarely the problem. Usually the issue is with incorporating the various ideas into the output.
Team members who think of themselves as " ARTISTS ", have a greater tendency to reject others’ creative ideas, but even artists need to be open to suggestions from others. Here’s how to do it:

(1) Think of others’ input as general inspiration rather than as a challenge to your vision !
Consider new ideas an opportunity to build on your thinking.
(2) Maintain an unemotional demeanor during collaborations.
Reacting less in the moment helps you maintain a less hostile tone.
(3) Delay responding to new ideas.
If your knee-jerk response to new ideas is rejecting them, give yourself time to think through an idea’s merits before making a decision about it.
(4) Think of projects as learning opportunities, not products.
Instead of focusing on getting every detail right, focus on a project’s useful takeaways.
Courtesy : HBR

10 rules of team management

1. Bring up problems (regarding tasks or relationships) when they arise. Don’t expect them to go away; instead, name the elephant in the room.
2. Take ownership and follow through on problems.
3. Don’t let things fall through the cracks. Even if the next step is someone else’s responsibility, stay in touch until it’s done.
4. Tell people what you need. Don’t expect them to guess.
5. When responding to someone’s request, always explain why you are doing what you are doing, especially when you have to say no.
6. When asking for something, always explain why you are making the request. This allows the person to come up with an alternative solution if what you are asking for isn’t possible.
7. If you need training or tools in order to be successful, ask for them.
8. Take risks, but inform key people so that they don’t get blindsided. Analyze the risks, identify the unexpected consequences, and plan for them.
9. Think Center-wide. When your actions diverge from usual practice, always ask, “What impact will this have on the team?”
10. Start each meeting with individuals sharing “what I did this week that constituted excellent customer service.”

" Reasons why , you should create rules for your team "

" Reasons why , you should create rules for your team "

(1) Reconciling personality and style differences isn’t the only reason to create rules of conduct (though it’s a big one).

(2)If you’re leading a cross-unit team, you’ll need to blend the different approaches.

(3)If you’ve added new people to a team, you’ll have to take their perspectives into account !

(4)If you’re managing two teams that must collaborate to achieve larger goals, you’ll have to establish a third, overarching set of rules.

You get the picture: Any time you bring people together, you have to create explicit rules of conduct—or the work will suffer !

Rules that evolve from unstructured teams / groups

Rules of conduct will form and evolve whether you talk about them or not.

 Without deliberate conversations, you’ll find that unproductive rules crop up as people mimic what you and other influential team members do in practice.

 If you, the leader, routinely show up five minutes late for meetings, lateness becomes the norm, overriding any notion that punctuality is important.

 Rules also evolve according to what you reward.
Courtesy : HBR

" Create Rules for How Your Team Will Collaborate ! "

" Create Rules for How Your Team Will Collaborate ! "
It’s easy to assume that everyone knows how to work on a team, but most people have individual styles and preferences.

What if one person thinks a 9:00 start time means 9:03 and someone else thinks it means 8:55? To avoid these common frustrations, create rules of conduct for your team’s collaboration. Rules help clarify how you will collectively make decisions, keep everyone informed, and run meetings.
To start, find or create a boiler-plate framework with basic rules for respect, trust, meetings, decision making, and more.

Discuss the rules with your team and agree on which ones you’ll follow. REVIEW the rules periodically to keep them RELEVANT and quash undesirable behaviors that have emerged.

In addition, conduct a " cultural audit" of your team by asking about the unwritten rules a new team member would need to know. Then create one combined set of rules that everyone will follow.
Courtesy : HBR

Prepare for the presentation

( presentation fun Daas ) Change How You Think About Presentations
Many of us have to give presentations, and many of us feel anxious or stressed in the days leading up to them.
Shifting the way you think about your presentation can help you feel less stressed about it.
 Here are some ways to change your mind-set:

(1)    Bless, don't impress.
 Instead of worrying what people will think of you, focus on what they’ll get out of your talk.

(2)    Rehearse, but don't obsess.
 Practice three times: Once you've prepared the talk, the day before you give it, and a few hours before you go on.

(3)    Create rest stops.
 Presenting for 180 minutes is a huge task. Think of your talk as a series of 10-minute chunks instead.

(4)    Breathe.
There's nothing innately stressful about presenting – the stress comes from us. Breathe deeply and slowly and use a power pose to calm your last-minute jitters.

( career tip ) 'Turn Your Unconventional Career Path into an Advantage'

( career tip ) 'Turn Your Unconventional Career Path into an Advantage'

When you've had an unusual career path, moving to a new job or a new industry can be tricky. Sometimes, difficult .
You're more likely to win over a hiring manager -  if you can convince him/her  that your varied experiences actually make you a better candidate !
To do that, connect the dots of your career to create a compelling narrative. Here are 4 steps , one after the other.

(1) Identify the themes running through your professional life.
Maybe you've always liked building things or you're excited about motivating people.

(2) Ask yourself what kinds of tasks you like to do.
Consider what you've enjoyed most in school and at work, and think about what ties them together.

(3) Then craft your story. Focus on what you're great at, using language that pulls together your diverse experiences.

(4)Explain what you do well, why you do it, and how your past is relevant to the new job.

Full article on HBR website here :

https://hbr.org/2015/08/turning-your-complex-career-path-into-a-coherent-story

Why , Flipkart's ' Business through App only ' strategy failed ...

The Flipkart Slipup: Why Flipkart ditched its app only strategy for Flipkart Lite

Swarnendu De

Co-founder, Innofied

0

November 13, 2015

app only flipkart flipkart lite

A while back, I wrote an article for Apps Unveiled magazine. At the time, Flipkart was following in the footsteps of Myntra and sailing ahead with their plan of going app only. Admittedly, the concept looked revolutionary and also had the power to drive the Indian ecommerce business to new horizons. But in a span of few months, things turned sour and the move amassed a lot of resistance from consumers. In a desperate attempt to recover lost base, Flipkart conducted their patented Big Billion Day sale as an app only feature. Even that didn’t seem to bring any change.
On the eve of Diwali, Flipkart announced its decision to bring back the web and introduced its new browser based Flipkart Lite app. Moreover, they decided to ditch their plans of going app only and keep its desktop website experience alive. So, where did it all go wrong?

Freedom to consumers

One thing that has always bugged me about Flipkart’s proposed business model was their complete ignorance towards customer behavior. Granted the fact that smartphone revolution is taking over, it doesn’t take away the truth that people are still habituated in using large screen devices such as desktops. Also, there is still the case of basic human rights, enabling them to make their own choices. Just because I bought a smartphone doesn’t give you the right to force me into using your app.

Competitors leveraging loopholes

When Flipkart stopped letting people open their website on smartphones it was a juicy opening for competitors to play their hand. Amazon, Snapdeal and many other sites pushed their app first model but also let people open their websites on smartphones, while keeping the desktop website alive. Even the most loyal of Flipkart consumers started switching to competitive offerings and the ecommerce giant’s sales started dropping significantly.

Constant updates consume data packs

When a multimillion dollar corporation is trying to implement an app only business model, one expects them to do their homework. In a surprising manner, Flipkart didn’t consider the ramifications that daily app updates will bring to the table. India being a developing nation still makes data packs a luxury, that few can afford. So, how can you imagine a consumer (shopping once or twice a month) spending valuable data on updating your app, several times a month?

The Outcome

While Flipkart had the stones to go ahead with their app only business model, that doesn’t necessarily make it a smart move. I, along with many others foresaw an outcome that would not prove to be as lucrative as Flipkart’s over ambitious plans had made them to believe. I guess all of this can be owed to the enormous amount of success and funding that the company has achieved in a relatively short time. My only hope is that the company doesn’t let all of it go into its head and end up becoming a precarious example for future startups.

Presentation basics : place main point in the middle , don't push it to the end.

( presentation basics ) ' Convey the crux of your presentation in the MIDDLE of the discussion , instead of at the end '
Make Your Presentation a Conversation
When giving a presentation, structuring your talk around “the great unveil,” saving key findings for the end, is tempting.
But the last-minute nature of the ' unveil' means your audience doesn’t have time to fully understand the information, so they won’t be prepared to discuss it.
An unveil can also create problems if you’re surprising people with a new idea – especially if it’s controversial.
Instead, structure your presentation to invite discussion and participation. Draft your talk in partnership with important members of the audience. Getting people involved early helps identify problems that need solving and solutions that have been tried.
A TIP : Send out pre-reading materials so people aren’t absorbing your findings as you say them.
And appoint facilitators to draw out questions and comments from the group after you’ve finished presenting.
Courtesy: HBR .

Full article . 
https://hbr.org/2015/07/create-a-conversation-not-a-presentation