Episode #540
Intuition becomes more dependable when it is built through extensive repetition and immediate, accurate feedback. Many major decisions, including hiring, relationships, housing, and choosing advisors, give us too little experience to justify the confidence we place in our gut.
Arbitrary starting points can influence what feels reasonable. Prices, previous purchases, and the first number mentioned in a negotiation may shape what you are willing to pay, sell, or accept.
Money, benefits, and titles have a limited effect on motivation. People give more when they feel appreciated, connected to their manager and team, psychologically safe, trusted, and able to see meaning in their contribution.
Employees care less when leaders make them feel replaceable. Treating the relationship as a partnership, supporting long-term growth, and asking what the organization can provide creates a stronger foundation for commitment.
When you are emotionally involved in a decision, create distance by asking what you would advise someone like you to do. That outside perspective can help you see the situation with greater clarity.
Why do smart, successful people still make decisions they later regret?
You hire someone who seemed like a great fit. You agree to a price because it sounded reasonable. You pay people well, but they still don’t seem invested in their work.
Dan Ariely has spent decades studying why this happens.
Dan is a three-time New York Times bestselling author and one of the world’s best-known experts on decision-making.
In this episode of “Success for the Athletic-Minded Man,” he explains when you should trust your gut and when your instincts may be working against you.
We also talk about why the first number in a negotiation matters, what makes people care about their work, and how leaders can make good employees feel replaceable without realizing it.
Dan also shares a simple question you can ask when you’re too close to a decision to see it clearly.
If you lead a team, run a business, negotiate deals, or have an important decision in front of you, this episode will help you recognize what may be influencing your thinking. Tune in now!
Dan Ariely is a behavioral economist, three-time New York Times bestselling author, and Professor of Business Administration at Duke University.
His interest in decision-making began after he suffered severe burns in an explosion and spent years undergoing painful treatments. That experience led him to study why people repeatedly make choices that work against them.
Through books including Predictably Irrational, The Upside of Irrationality, and The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty, Ariely makes behavioral economics accessible and helps people make better decisions in work and life.
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