seethehumanside

[seethehumanside]

Social loafing: why individual productivity decreases in groups

Social loafing or the Ringelmann effect: when team work makes the dream work (because you get to sleep on the job).

Have you ever worked in a team where people say: “Why should I do it? Let the others handle it” or “All of us should contribute equally”. The latter sentence is fair to some degree, although equal may not mean equitable. It’s also an expression of the fact that you consider you are doing too much compared to others and therefore start to push the brakes a bit. Social loafing is a reduction in…

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How instant gratification induces decline

Instant gratification is the desire or urge for immediate reward or pleasure, without effort or delay. It implies ignoring long-term consequences, creating a craving which may rival in intensity with drug addiction in some cases. Online shopping, fast food, social media, search engine results are all build around immediate gratification. While we may be capable to understand the principles on…

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Performance punishment - when good work is more work

Performance punishment is when good workers get more work for doing a good job. It results into fatigue, burnout and attrition.

Performance punishment is starting to become a coined term. It reflects a simple reality: people who do a good job, tend to receive more work. Those that don’t, tend to get more free time on their hands, good LIFE-work balance,  even a promotion. If you’re an entrepreneur, getting more work for doing a good job is what you want, but as an employee it’s not something you’d wish for. How does it…

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6 ways in which personal development resembles plant growth

Personal development resembles the growth process of a plant. In at least 6 ways.

From the golden ratio to fractals, nature has a lot of repeating patterns. What if one of those patterns is the way in which personal development resembles plant growth? It seems like most living organisms have the same needs at a basic level. For us, humans, personal development is essential if we want to grow as better persons. Here are six resemblances between plant growth and our own. Too…

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The biophilia effect: how nature influences our wellbeing for the better

The biophilia effect is about bringing nature back to our lives and the benefits we get: less stress, more creativity, better health.

I guess it’s not surprising to find out that nature has a positive influence on human beings. We kind of know it deep down. But has it ever been proven scientifically? Well, yes! It’s called the biophilia effect. Biophilia at its core was defined as “the passionate love of life and of all that is alive” (Erich Fromm, 1973, “The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness). The biophilia theory was…

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Dark empathy - the empathy of sociopaths explained

Dark empathy is cognitive empathy. A dark empath is often a sociopath, a psycopath or a narcissist. For your sake, avoid it.

There’s a lot of talk about empathy, the “emotional empathy” let’s call it or “affective empathy”. Empathy is the ability to understand how others feel AND share their feelings. A sort of “you’re sad and I’m sad with you because I feel your pain” – therefore I want to help you. Dark empathy is cognitive empathy. Dark empaths understand rationally how you must be feeling based on the events that…

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The unexpected reciprocity decay: when does a favour expire?

Are you upset when people you've helped don't return the favour? It's a normal phenomenon called reciprocity decay. Favours do expire.

We tend to help others in one of two ways: either we do it for free and expect nothing in return, or expect the favour to be paid back in equal value. But sometimes, especially if you wait for too long, the other person might forget you’ve done a favour and get nothing in return. That’s explained by reciprocity decay. Let’s see how it works and why favours simply… expire! The study behind…

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When is, biologically, the best time to drink coffee?

Biologically, there is a best time to drink coffee, to gain maximum effect from caffeine and avoid disrupting your sleep. Find out when!

I know that most people are accustomed to have some coffee right after getting out of bed. I used to schedule my coffee filter instead of an alarm, just so I can wake up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee. Nice as it may sound, biologically it was not such a great idea. I was used to preparing an 8-cup filter, drinking it steadily from morning until 6pm. Once I’ve learned a few things, I’ve…

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How to use the bottom dollar effect in business and personal life

Spending your bottom dollar will yield a negative perception. Make reserves. That's valid both for business and feelings

We all know how it feels when you’re reaching a month’s end and there’s little money left in the account. If only the pay day could come earlier, right? While immediately after getting your salary you might be spending generously, in the last days of the month when money is running scarce, you pay more attention to how you’re spending and you’re not happy at all. That’s partially due to the…

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When is it time to give up?

When is it time to give up?

If you’re reading this, I hope you didn’t fall for the “never give up” bs that is all over the internet. Never ever giving up is an obsessive behaviour that doesn’t benefit anyone. Resilience is a whole different thing. But let’s address the question at hand: when is it really time to give up? If you’ve been on this site for a while, you’re already aware of the sunk cost fallacy and the initial…

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Why do some people have problems with authority?

Problems with authority: teachers, coaches, managers, police officers, as a behavioural pattern have one root cause. Find out which!

Let’s say you’re an adult and all your life you’ve had problems with authority, or should I say problems with people in a position of authority. A typical such person, used to get into conflicts with teachers, caretakers, sports coaches, probably police as well. Later, that reflected during military service (if applicable), but more so at work. The conflict was transferred and projected on…

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The unexpected reason why we hate or love some personality traits in others

The personality traits you hate are a reason for introspection. The personality traits you love can show your potential.

When was the last time you said you hate someone’s personality traits or actions? Yesterday? An hour ago? We do it all the time: hate some things we see or hear about, and love or cheer for others. On the surface we may pretend to dislike some things that go against social norms or morality, even if deep down we like them. We put on a show, so that the tribe (society) doesn’t exclude us. Get…

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Learn to build strong anchors before the storm hits

Build anchors that will give you the confidence you need to keep going, when only a part of your universe is still standing.

Life is unpredictable. Have you ever made plans on a rainy day? That’s actually the sky laughing until it cries, looking at your plans. When the storm hits, and it does hit, what will hold your ship in place? You might try to navigate through the storm, it could work.  If you’re not highly skilled, there’s a good chance you’ll smash your ship against a rock. Ok, enough with the metaphors. If you…

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10 powerful steps to be unstoppable, not unbreakable!

10 powerful steps to be unstoppable, not unbreakable!

Shocking isn’t it? You get the “be unstoppable” part, but how can someone encourage you to break? To be breakable?  Well, let me ask you something… How do you know something is unbreakable unless you try to hammer it down with more and more force? Just to see if it breaks. I don’t want that for myself and neither for you. Besides, something unbreakable is rigid. You can’t go through life without…

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Winning 101: focus on the process, not on the outcome

Winning 101: focus on the process, not on the outcome

If a “never lose” strategy would exist, I think this would be it: “focus on the process, not on the outcome”. Visualizing a result, a goal, enhances your chances to succeed, as discussed here. It’s also 100% necessary to know where you’re going, when you start to plan. However, when you focus on the process, you start to enjoy the ride. It also makes it easier to adapt which is a must have skill…

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The sunk cost effect can ruin your budget, time and energy

The sunk cost effect is what makes us continue to invest in things which clearly don't work: project, relationship, investment, career path.

“I’ve invested too much, to give up now”. “We’ve put a lot of money into this, we can just abandon the whole project”. That’s how the sunk cost effect sounds like in real life. It’s the opposite of abandoning a wrong path, no matter how far you’ve went down that road. The sunk cost effect or the sunk cost fallacy is an error in reasoning that makes it difficult for people to abandon something…

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The 100 wishes exercise that can transform your life

Can wishes transform your life? Simply wishing, no. This exercise will teach you how to transform wishes to reality.

Sounds like a promise you’ve heard so many times before doesn’t it? “Transform your life”, “wishes”. Well, it’s true, because the following exercise, if you actually do it, gives you a push and teaches you a method to fulfil your wishes. You already know that on this website, we’re for hands-on work and practical solutions. You just have to be 100% in. Let’s do it! Step 1 – timeboxed to…