Irrational behavior
The programmer’s work tool is his own brain, the second weapon is teamwork. If you are pretty smart to write good algorithms and quickly delve into new technologies, and in addition to this, integrate well into teams, know how to find a common language with managers, colleagues and customers - then you are almost a Guru.
However, programmers often have problems with the “second weapon” - teamwork or communication. Users ask stupid questions, employees write strange code, managers want something incomprehensible - why aren't they all as simple and logical as computers?
One winter evening I was interested in the course “ A beginner's guide to Irrational Behaviour ” on Coursera. The course is worth it to see, I cannot give all the examples and theories here, I will give what impressed and remembered most of all.
')
1) About our own ideas: we love our own ideas more than others, this is a feature of psychology. Take two ideas: one is expressed by another person, one by you. Objectively, the quality of the idea of that person is 100 points, the quality of your idea is 95. You will be inclined to your own, since “love of your own ideas” acts as a magnifying glass, and 95 seems like 110.
Isn't this the reason that programmers like to write their own framework, or at least a module, whereas in principle there are existing ones?
2) About that, in which we invest strength: a person is very attached to that, in which he invested strength. This is also a feature of psychology. What a person has invested in is more dear to him than the same thing received from somewhere. That is why your employee is not very happy when you edit his code.
We love the cake that we baked ourselves more than the one we bought. We love our children more than others - because we raised them ourselves. We love the postcard that we painted ourselves more than the new one from the store. IKEA furniture uses this psychological effect: furniture that you assembled with your own hands is somehow dearer and dearer to you.
In our case - again - your own framework is more familiar.
3) On the results of work: it is very important for a person that the results of his work are not lost. When a person knows that what he is doing is not needed by anyone, his motivation disappears over time. Even if for work on this money is honestly paid (salary, for example).
In the lecture, they conducted an experiment: they asked people to make robots from Lego, they paid $ 3 per robot. But the made robot was destroyed in front of a person. After some number of robots made, the person stopped: why do I do it if nobody needs it? It would seem: do it, you get $ 3 in any case. But no - those whose robots were not destroyed, worked much longer than those whose were broken.
An example was given: the team was working on the project, but it was closed. If you tell the team about this, for some time their morale will drop (it would seem - well, does it really matter, did you get your salary?). To prevent this from happening, the lecturer recommends focusing on the fact that the developments and experience from this project will be very useful.
4) About the fear of risk: the man - the creation, not loving risk. Not all - some sources say that it is genetically laid - but most of us are risk-averse (this term can be googled).
The experiment is this: you are offered 40 dollars in your hands, or try to play the lottery with a 50% chance of winning 100 dollars. You are likely to take 40 dollars, and you will not risk.
Avoiding risk plays a role in the work of the programmer: when choosing a method of implementation, you have a tendency to choose the old and familiar method instead of the effective, but new and unfamiliar. To take the framework with which you have already worked, to use the language you are used to, to write in the way you have already written - despite the fact that it may not be the most effective in this case - this is all a feature of human psychology - a tendency to choose risk-free paths.
5) Decrease in value in the remote perspective: we look at the “here and now” through a magnifying glass, and at the “future” through a diminutive. If “here and now” chocolate is in front of you, and “in the future” you want to be slim and fit, “here and now” for some reason wins. The fact that "in the future" is constantly being minimized.
That is why many people are not able to save money - expenses “here and now” constantly seem to be significant, important, and with their weight they constantly beat their long-term goal. The same thing happens with goals in terms of health, professional development, and anything else.
All these examples are examples of the fact that we have mechanisms in place that force us to act irrationally: to choose not the best idea (but our own), to become attached to our own handicrafts (and not to use existing ones), to choose old technologies (since the new one bears the risk), or do what is important now, instead of doing what is important in perspective.
An even more complete list of “distortions” that make us (or others) behave irrationally is found in Wikipedia ( link ). I will give the most interesting of them:
The effect of doubt is the tendency to favor one of the options about which more information is available ( it may not be the most correct ) ( link )
The effect of the group is the tendency to believe in something, simply because a lot of other people believe in it ( hello, Apple! ) ( Link )
The effect of a blind spot is a tendency to see fewer mistakes in oneself than in other people ( cf. “We see a speck in the other ’s eye, we don’t notice it in our log” ) ( link )
Confirmation of confirmation - the tendency to pay more attention to the facts confirming your opinion, and less attention - to refute ( oh, this self-righteousness ) ( link )
Test distortion - the tendency to test a hypothesis by checking the correct path, instead of checking the paths that disprove it ( This is the bread of our testers and a description of how programmers check their code ) ( link )
The curse of knowledge - it is very difficult or almost impossible for a more informed person to see how a problem or task is seen from the point of view of a less informed person ( think about it when an accountant comes to you with questions, or when you are dissatisfied that a manager or team member it is not explained enough ) ( link )
Failure of planning - when planning, a person is inclined to underestimate the time that will be required for any task ( familiar, isn't it? ) ( Link )
The effect of social competition is the tendency to choose from candidates those who do not enter into competition with your own strengths ( is this useful in interviews? ) ( Link )
The effect of a beaten track is a tendency to choose familiar ways, means, means ( link )
Other interesting effects - the effect of small payments , the effect of “I-know-know” or “I-say-and-say” , IKEA effect , the phenomenon of a just world and many others .
Rational behavior is behavior in order to maximize any of the parameters. In life, we often - without realizing it - behave irrationally (we give preference to our ideas, see the mote only in others' eyes, succumb to the “I-knew-it” effect) and get angry when someone else behaves irrationally. Knowledge of your own cognitive distortions will allow you not only to make better decisions, but also - and most importantly - be more loyal to your colleagues and their cognitive distortions.
Successful all the work and communication!
However, programmers often have problems with the “second weapon” - teamwork or communication. Users ask stupid questions, employees write strange code, managers want something incomprehensible - why aren't they all as simple and logical as computers?
Beginner's Guide to Irrational Behavior
One winter evening I was interested in the course “ A beginner's guide to Irrational Behaviour ” on Coursera. The course is worth it to see, I cannot give all the examples and theories here, I will give what impressed and remembered most of all.
')
1) About our own ideas: we love our own ideas more than others, this is a feature of psychology. Take two ideas: one is expressed by another person, one by you. Objectively, the quality of the idea of that person is 100 points, the quality of your idea is 95. You will be inclined to your own, since “love of your own ideas” acts as a magnifying glass, and 95 seems like 110.
Isn't this the reason that programmers like to write their own framework, or at least a module, whereas in principle there are existing ones?
2) About that, in which we invest strength: a person is very attached to that, in which he invested strength. This is also a feature of psychology. What a person has invested in is more dear to him than the same thing received from somewhere. That is why your employee is not very happy when you edit his code.
We love the cake that we baked ourselves more than the one we bought. We love our children more than others - because we raised them ourselves. We love the postcard that we painted ourselves more than the new one from the store. IKEA furniture uses this psychological effect: furniture that you assembled with your own hands is somehow dearer and dearer to you.
In our case - again - your own framework is more familiar.
3) On the results of work: it is very important for a person that the results of his work are not lost. When a person knows that what he is doing is not needed by anyone, his motivation disappears over time. Even if for work on this money is honestly paid (salary, for example).
In the lecture, they conducted an experiment: they asked people to make robots from Lego, they paid $ 3 per robot. But the made robot was destroyed in front of a person. After some number of robots made, the person stopped: why do I do it if nobody needs it? It would seem: do it, you get $ 3 in any case. But no - those whose robots were not destroyed, worked much longer than those whose were broken.
An example was given: the team was working on the project, but it was closed. If you tell the team about this, for some time their morale will drop (it would seem - well, does it really matter, did you get your salary?). To prevent this from happening, the lecturer recommends focusing on the fact that the developments and experience from this project will be very useful.
4) About the fear of risk: the man - the creation, not loving risk. Not all - some sources say that it is genetically laid - but most of us are risk-averse (this term can be googled).
The experiment is this: you are offered 40 dollars in your hands, or try to play the lottery with a 50% chance of winning 100 dollars. You are likely to take 40 dollars, and you will not risk.
Avoiding risk plays a role in the work of the programmer: when choosing a method of implementation, you have a tendency to choose the old and familiar method instead of the effective, but new and unfamiliar. To take the framework with which you have already worked, to use the language you are used to, to write in the way you have already written - despite the fact that it may not be the most effective in this case - this is all a feature of human psychology - a tendency to choose risk-free paths.
5) Decrease in value in the remote perspective: we look at the “here and now” through a magnifying glass, and at the “future” through a diminutive. If “here and now” chocolate is in front of you, and “in the future” you want to be slim and fit, “here and now” for some reason wins. The fact that "in the future" is constantly being minimized.
That is why many people are not able to save money - expenses “here and now” constantly seem to be significant, important, and with their weight they constantly beat their long-term goal. The same thing happens with goals in terms of health, professional development, and anything else.
All these examples are examples of the fact that we have mechanisms in place that force us to act irrationally: to choose not the best idea (but our own), to become attached to our own handicrafts (and not to use existing ones), to choose old technologies (since the new one bears the risk), or do what is important now, instead of doing what is important in perspective.
Cognitive distortion
An even more complete list of “distortions” that make us (or others) behave irrationally is found in Wikipedia ( link ). I will give the most interesting of them:
The effect of doubt is the tendency to favor one of the options about which more information is available ( it may not be the most correct ) ( link )
The effect of the group is the tendency to believe in something, simply because a lot of other people believe in it ( hello, Apple! ) ( Link )
The effect of a blind spot is a tendency to see fewer mistakes in oneself than in other people ( cf. “We see a speck in the other ’s eye, we don’t notice it in our log” ) ( link )
Confirmation of confirmation - the tendency to pay more attention to the facts confirming your opinion, and less attention - to refute ( oh, this self-righteousness ) ( link )
Test distortion - the tendency to test a hypothesis by checking the correct path, instead of checking the paths that disprove it ( This is the bread of our testers and a description of how programmers check their code ) ( link )
The curse of knowledge - it is very difficult or almost impossible for a more informed person to see how a problem or task is seen from the point of view of a less informed person ( think about it when an accountant comes to you with questions, or when you are dissatisfied that a manager or team member it is not explained enough ) ( link )
Failure of planning - when planning, a person is inclined to underestimate the time that will be required for any task ( familiar, isn't it? ) ( Link )
The effect of social competition is the tendency to choose from candidates those who do not enter into competition with your own strengths ( is this useful in interviews? ) ( Link )
The effect of a beaten track is a tendency to choose familiar ways, means, means ( link )
Other interesting effects - the effect of small payments , the effect of “I-know-know” or “I-say-and-say” , IKEA effect , the phenomenon of a just world and many others .
Conclusion
Rational behavior is behavior in order to maximize any of the parameters. In life, we often - without realizing it - behave irrationally (we give preference to our ideas, see the mote only in others' eyes, succumb to the “I-knew-it” effect) and get angry when someone else behaves irrationally. Knowledge of your own cognitive distortions will allow you not only to make better decisions, but also - and most importantly - be more loyal to your colleagues and their cognitive distortions.
Successful all the work and communication!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/285622/
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