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Behaviors & Emotions
updated 1/21/2023
(self) Confidence
apologies
arguments, conflicts
assumptions
attention
attitude
audio
beauty
beliefs
bias
boredom
bragging
bullshitting
bystander effect
charisma
charity, chivalry, values
choices
collecting
commitments
complements
concepts
coolness, desire, envy
creativity
criticism, feedback
deceit
delegation
delusions
distractions
emotional intelligence
empathy
failure
familiarity
fascination
focus
gestures
getting things done
grit, hustle
groupthink
guilt
habits
humility
illusions
influence
interrogations
irony
leadership
likeability
loaded questions
loyalty, trust, honesty
memory-recall
mental models
mentoring
motivations
music
persuasion
play
polarization
power, respect
predictions
premature optimization
pressure
procrastination
productivity
promotions
prospect theory
reactance
reason
rejection
resonance
rhyming
rituals
scarcity
secrecy
shame
signaling
social proof
social skills
speaking
spin, subterfuge
stoicism
surprise
symbols
values
waiting
(self) Confidence
Everybody Experiences Imposter Syndrome (Medium)
Self-Appointed Geniuses (Priceonomics)
apologies
How to Respond to a Bullshit Apology (Lifehacker)
arguments, conflicts
Ad Hominem - When People Argue with Personal Attacks (Effectiviology)
Becoming Comfortable with Conflicts - a Team Exercise (HBR)
Beginner's Guide to Constructive Arguments (Liam Rosen)
Double Crux method for Resolving Disagreements (Rationality)
How Bees Argue (Overcoming Bias)
assumptions
Why it's Wrong to Assume your Interpretation is Correct (Effectiviology)
attention
Attention Theories (Changing Minds)
Capturing Attention - 7 Techniques (Art of Manliness)
Grabbing & Holding Attention (InstigatorBlog)
How to Pay Attention (99u)
How to Pay Attention - 20 Methods (ReForm)
How to REALLY Pay Attention (Medium)
Tricks of a Sideshow Barker (Better Humans)
attitude
How to Build your Attitude Muscle
The Principles of Adult Behavior
The Three Types of Specialists Needed for Any Revolution
audio
Why are Washing Machines Learning to Play the Harp? (Atlantic)
beauty
Beautiful People can Rub your Customers the Wrong Way (Pocket)
beliefs
How Belief Works - Some Theories (Changing Minds)
The Backfire Effect - Why Facts Don't Always Change Minds (Effectiviology)
When Your Beliefs Change, You Probably Don't Realize It (Curiosity.com)
bias
18 Types of Mental Mistakes Caused by Cognitive Bias (Visual Capitalist)
4 Cognitive Tricks (UXPin)
A Cognitive Bias Cheat Sheet (Better Humans)
Biases and Blunders (Farnam Street)
Cherry Picking - When People Ignore Evidence they Dislike (Effectiviology)
How Cognitive Biases Affect Your Decisions (Mental Floss)
How to De-Bias Yourself (Effectiviology)
How to avoid cognitive biases when you get paid to think (Inverted Passion)
Is it Better if It's MAN-made? (Stanford GSB)
Loss Aversion isn't all that Pervasive (David Gal)
Take the Other to Lunch (TED)
The Most Common Cognitive Biases, Visualized (Use Journal)
When you think Everything is a Competition - Zero-Sum Bias (Effectiviology)
Which Cognitive Bias is Making NFL Coaches Predictable? (Measure of Doubt)
Why too much evidence can be a bad thing (Phys.org)
boredom
Why Being Bored is Good (The Walrus)
bragging
Get your work recognized - write a brag document (Julia Evans)
The Best Article on Bragging - Ever
bullshitting
Yes you can Bullshit a Bullshitter (Brit Psych Society)
bystander effect
Why "Open Secrets" exist in Organizations
charisma
12 Influence Charisma Tactics (Whiteboarding)
8 Body Language Tricks (Business Insider)
8 Ways to be Uber-Charismatic (High Existence)
The 3 Pillars of Charisma - as explained by an Acting Coach (Medium)
The Anatomy of Charisma (Nautilus)
The Tricks to Make Yourself Effortlessly Charming (BBC)
Who Wouldn't Want to be More Charismatic? (Uncommon Help)
charity, chivalry, values
8 Core Values to Live By (Darius Foroux)
How to Be Polite (Medium)
Rules for a Knight (Farnam Street)
The Principle of Charity (Effectiviology)
choices
The Paralyzing Effect of Choice (Supermoney)
collecting
What Makes People Collect Things? (Stanford GSB)
commitments
Precommitment - Burning Bridges as a Strategic Decision (Effectiviology)
complements
How to Give Compliments (Less Penguiny)
concepts
conceptually.org
coolness, desire, envy
How to Manufacture Desire (LinkedIn)
Save it for Later - Bookmarking Apps and the Wish Economy (Medium)
The 4-Letter Code to Selling Just About Anything (Atlantic)
The Neurological Pleasures of Fast Fashion (Atlantic)
The Psychology of a Fanboy (Lifehacker)
The Science of Snobbery (Atlantic)
Why We Copy other People's Choices (The Conversation)
Why is Art Expensive? (Priceonomics)
creativity
Gamestorming
How to Use the "Equal Odds" Rule (James Clear)
The Psychology of Limitations (Buffer)
criticism, feedback
Have the Courage to Be Direct (HBR)
How to Respond to Digital Criticism (ReadWrite)
How to be Resilient in the Face of Harsh Criticism (HBR)
The Essential Guide to Difficult Conversations (Dave Bailey)
The Key to Giving Receiving Negative Feedback (HBR)
deceit
If smiles are so easy to fake - why do we trust them? (Psyche)
delegation
Be a Minimally Invasive Manager (HBR)
How do You Delegate to a Group of People? (Anna Shipman)
Identify Leaders by Giving People Assignments (Feld)
The Complete Guide to Delegation (Better Humans)
Turn the Ship Around (Google Doc summary)
Turn the Ship Around (Tubarks)
delusions
Living a Lie - We Deceive Ourselves to Better Deceive Others (Scientific American)
distractions
How the Brain Ignores Distractions (MIT)
emotional intelligence
Why Emotional Intelligence is Important - 7 Reasons (Pocket/Fast Company)
empathy
How Privilege Impacts Empathy (UX Design)
How to Cultivate Empathy (Futurity)
failure
Fail at Everything (Scott Adams)
Missing the Point about Failure (Spikelab)
familiarity
The Science of Familiarity
fascination
42 Personality Types & How to Sell to Them (How to Fascinate)
The Seven Triggers (How to Fascinate)
focus
The Complete Guide to Deep Work (Doist)
gestures
How Humans Point (Pocket | The Conversation)
Why do we Gesture when we Talk? (Mental Floss)
getting things done
8760 Hours - A Framework
Do Something Small. Every Day.
GTD in 15 Minutes
Henry Rollins on Defining Success
Scott Hanselman's Productivity Tip Sheet
Things that are NOT progress
grit, hustle
A Dozen Lessons from Anthony Bourdain (25iq)
How to do Hard Things (David MacIver)
Navy SEAL lessons (Bakadesuyo)
The Hustler's MBA (Tynan)
The Invention of Sliced Bread (Priceonomics)
groupthink
Symptoms from the Space Shuttle Disaster (Washington.edu)
guilt
Spare them the Guilt Trip (Psyche)
habits
Building a Habit Guide (James Clear)
Finding that One Tiny, Addicting Behavior (InstigatorBlog)
Habit Stacking (Farnam Street)
Habits and Hooks (CMXhub)
Hacking Habits to Make New Behaviors Stick (99u)
Hooked (Book Summary)
How to Create a Chain Reaction of Good Habits (Pocket)
How to Make your Products Scientifically Irresistible (Gainsight)
How to Stop Checking Your Phone (Bakadesuyo)
Made to Stick (Book Summary)
Ryan Holiday interview (Nir and Far)
The Fastest Way to Improve Your Life (Better Humans)
The Habit Zone (Nir and Far)
The Toothbrush Test (TNW)
Transform Your Habits, v2 (pdf)
Why Startups Must be Behavior Experts (TechCrunch)
humility
Accidental Leadership
Fixing the "Smartest Person in the Room" Issue
The Manager Who Kept a Six-Year Diary of her Mistakes
illusions
Taxes - the mother of all cognitive illusions (Behavioral economics)
influence
23 Psychological Life Hacks to Gain an Advantage
50 examples of Robert Cialdini's 6 Principles Of Influence
9 Influence Tactics (Farnam Street)
A/B Testing as a Surprisingly Effective Management Tool
Consumers are Becoming Wise to Your Nudges (Behavioral Scientist)
How to Get an MBA from Eminem
Influence Tactics - A Taxonomy
Knowing When to Shut Up
Lessons from Machiavelli's "The Prince" (Effectiviology)
Moving Your Agenda Forward
Nudge (Book summary - slideshare)
The Four Components of Influence
The Nine Primary Tactics Used to Influence Others
The Tipping Point (book summary)
You Don't Need Power to Drive a Strategy
You’re Already More Persuasive than You Think
interrogations
Why people confess to crimes they didn’t commit (Science)
irony
The Irony Effect (Pocket)
leadership
13 Life Lessons from Paris' Red Light District (Medium)
21 Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell (Book Summary)
25 Timeless Leadership Lessons that Just Plain Work (Terry Starbucker)
4 Leadership Types that can Destroy a Perfectly Good Strategy
Awesome Leading Managing List (GitHub)
Carl Braun on Communicating Like a Grown-Up (Farnam Street)
Chinese War General Startup Principles (Mattermark)
Eight Common Traits of Uncommon Product Leaders
Google's Quest to Build a Better Boss (NYT)
Leadership Lessons from the Boston Red Sox
Lincoln’s Principles of Leadership
Managing Two People Who Hate Each Other (HBR)
Moving Your Agenda (LeadingBlog)
Real Leaders Don't Do Focus Groups (HBR)
Servant Leadership
Seven Leadership Lessons from a SEALs Commander (Fast Company)
Solitude Leadership
The Golden Rules of Leadership (Farnam Street)
Tribal Leadership (Farnam Street)
U.S. Army Engineer School Commandant’s Reading List
Unintuitive Things I've Learned (Medium)
Why Should Anyone Be Led By You? (HBR)
likeability
Getting People to Like You
How to be Approachable (Less Penguiny)
loaded questions
Loaded Questions - What They Are (Effectiviology)
loyalty, trust, honesty
Authentic leadership
Frankly, We Do Give a Damn - Profanity Honesty (SGSB)
Honesty, or Fear - Why Japan is good at returning (some) lost items (BBC)
How Darknet Sellers Build Trust
Loyalists vs. Mercenaries
Ten Techniques for Building Trust with Anyone
Willful Disobedience the Character Traits of Independent Thinkers
memory-recall
Memory Mnemonics (Ness Labs)
The Generation Effect (Ness Labs)
mental models
13 Mental Models Every Founder Should Know (The Mission)
14 Mental Models (Medium)
How to Gather User Behavior Data (TNW)
Inversion - the Power of Avoiding Stupidity (Farnam Street)
Mental Models - The Best Way to Make Intelligent Decisions (109 Models Explained)
Mental Models I Find Repeatedly Useful (@yegg)
Mental models to help you cut your losses (Behavioral Scientist)
Useful Mental Models (Defmacro)
mentoring
How to Mentor a Perfectionist (HBR)
Mentors are the Secret Weapon of Successful Startups (TechCrunch)
motivations
A Crash Course in Human Motivation
Building Intrinsic Motivation (Ness Labs)
Managing the Invisibles
Reiss' 16 Human Needs
Spark - a Book Summary
The Elephant In the Brain (Book Outline)
Theories of Motivation
music
Psychological Building Blocks of Music (Behavioral Scientist)
persuasion
14 Time-tested Writing Techniques
15 Psychological Triggers
19 Psychological Sales Hacks
30 Conversion Optimization Tactics
42 Personality Archetypes - and How to Sell to Them
A Guide to Confronting the Dark Arts of Persuasion (Quartz/Pocket)
A Handbook of Persuasion Techniques
Appealing to the Stone (Effectiviology)
Ethos, Pathos, Logos (Ness Labs)
Favorite Pop Psychology Books, 2012
Feelings over Facts (Effectiviology)
Get Them to Say No
Handicapping Strength (Effectiviology)
How Grocery Bags Manipulate Your Mind
How a Preview Image Increased Conversions by 359%
How to Become Convincing (DC Gross)
How to Persuade Anyone, of Anything, in 10 Seconds
How to Sell Anything - Aristotle - the Ancient Art of Persuasion
How to be the Most Persuasive Person in the Room
Persuasion Tips for Product Managers
Product Leadership Rules to Live By From My Experience at Pandora
The "But You Are Free To..." Technique
The 20 Best Lessons from Social Psychology
The Backfire Effect
The Burden of Proof (Effectiviology)
The Psychology Behind Costco's Samples
The Seven Triggers of Web Design
The Wishpond Guide to Conversion Optimization
Want to Persuade Somebody? Talk Like They Do. (HBR)
Why People Buy Perception - Not Reality
play
Play May Be Deeper than We Thought (Scientific American)
polarization
Ask "How Does That Policy Work?" (Behavioral Scientist)
power, respect
How to Get Respect (bakadesuyo)
The 48 Laws of Power - Summary
The Best Management Memo - Ever (Design Observer)
predictions
Should prediction markets be Charities? (Overcoming Bias)
premature optimization
Premature Optimization (Effectiviology)
pressure
How to Make the Best Move When There Are No Good Moves (Farnam Street)
What a Football Coach Taught me About Product Management (Medium)
procrastination
Why Procrastination is about managing Emotions, not time (BBC)
productivity
Productivity Lessons from Artists & Entrepeneurs (Pocket)
promotions
How to Get Promoted on Merit, Not Hubris (Better Humans)
prospect theory
What is Prospect Theory?
reactance
Reactance (Wikipedia)
reason
The Enigma of Reason (Scott Young)
rejection
Why the French Love to Say No (BBC)
Why the Other Side Won't Listen to Reason (Raptitude)
resonance
Resonance - How to Open Doors for Other People (Farnam Street)
rhyming
Why Rhyming Makes Your Message More Persuasive (Effectiviology)
rituals
How Brands are Behaving like Organized Religions (HBR)
Why Brand Rituals are so Powerful (Psychology Today)
Why Rituals Work (Scientific American)
scarcity
How Artificial Scarcity can Boost Desire (Growhack)
Pliny the Elder -a Case Study (Marketplace)
The Science of Scarcity (Harvard Mag)
secrecy
The Secrecy Effect (Behavioral Economics)
shame
How to Build Resilience to Shame (Yes Magazine)
How to sell embarassing products (HBR)
Shamelessness as a strategy (Nadia.xyz)
The effectiveness of shaming bad security (Troy Hunt)
The scientific basis of shame (Pocket)
signaling
False Signals (Behavioral Scientist)
I'll Have What She's Having (The Conversation)
Signaling as a Service (Julian.digital)
Virtue Signaling (Toptal)
Why People Misunderstand Each Other (Atlantic)
social proof
4 Social Proof Techniques (Practical Ecommerce)
Social Proof Factors (Kissmetrics)
The Most Important Selling Factor (Practical Ecommerce)
The Power of Customer Testimonials (HelpScout)
social skills
Improve Your Social Skills - A Guide
speaking
6 Techniques of Clear & Compelling Speech (TED)
Block Your Talk
Distill your msg to 15 words (CNBC)
Looking confident while presenting - 6 ways (HBR)
People really don't know when to shut up - or keep talking (Scientific American)
Public speaking for Introverts
spin, subterfuge
How Asian dating sites cracked the code (Qz)
The Master of Spin (CJR)
stoicism
How to Be a Stoic (New Yorker)
The Principles of Adult Behavior (Gist.Github)
surprise
How Happy Meals still set the Std for Ideas (Adweek)
Surprise "Drops" (Adweek)
YouTube Toy Unboxing - is a Thing (Vox)
symbols
Pineapples were once Status Symbols (BBC)
Symbols that Can't Last Forever (99% Invisible)
values
How to Tell if Your Values are Really Values (Mission.org)
waiting
What People Hate Most About Waiting in Line (Slate)