The Fallacy of Social Proof

Herd behavior is an epidemic in our society today. Known as large groups conforming to choices which may be either correct or mistaken as a result of social influence, psychology research goes pretty deep into this phenomenon. One definition I read for social proof is people assuming the actions of others to reflect correct behavior for a given situation. This effect is prominent in ambiguous social situations where people are unable to determine the appropriate mode of behavior, and is driven by the assumption that surrounding people possess more knowledge about the situation. Regardless of semantics, social proof is in every part of our world.

New Low For The British

This past week the British government stripped former RBS CEO Fred Goodwin of his knighthood. 

25 Guys to Avoid on Wall Street: Guest Post

I recently participated in an executive workshop where they made us look back on our career and dissect the key milestones to understand what exactly happened. One of the areas was focusing on the key people who have influenced your career, either knowingly or unknowingly. What was really interesting was when one of the participants said he got more from avoiding certain individuals in his career. That really struck me as insightful given my own career path.