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Hacking Human Behaviour
Edin Kapić
About me (Edin Kapić)
• I’m a Developer• A techie, just like you
• We don’t live in isolation• Family• Friends• Coworkers• Managers
• Trial and Error• Costly way of learning
• Take this course with a grain of salt
Your skills
• You have several traits and skills as a technical person• I will build on them to explain human behaviour
High Intelligence Abstraction Problem-
Solving
Observation Reasoning Deduction
Crash course in human behaviour
• Our Mind• Conscious vs Unconscious mind• Personality• Communication
Our Mind
Man vs Machine
PREDICTABLE
NON-PREDICTABLE
Two additions to the Black-box model
Inner State
Subjective Filter
Our mind
Hardware
Firmware
Operating System
Applications Cortex
Limbic System
Brainstem
Nervous System
Conscious vs Unconscious Mind
Schools of Thought in Psychology
Psychoanalysis (Freud)
• Inner thoughts are what counts• Unconscious, ego, defense mechanisms
Behavioralism (Skinner)
• Only the observed behaviour is what counts• Conditioning, rewards
Cognitivism (France)
• There are both inner thoughts and observed behaviour
• Perception, language, memory
The Conscious Mind
• Consciousness• Being aware of ourselves and our environment• Defining characteristic of human mind
• Conscious mind• Our psychic RAM memory
• Preconscious mind
The Unconscious Mind
The Ego
• Common sense
• Mediates between• Instinctive (Id) • Moral values (Superego)
• Defense mechanisms• Our mind “hates” cognitive dissonance
Defense Mechanisms
• Driven by the unconscious mind but their response can be avoided
Denial Regression
Projection Acting Out
Demo: Defense Mechanisms
The project is not going well. Can’t you see?
Don’t worry, it will be OK.
DENIAL
States of Mind
• Awake, conscious• Dreaming• Unconscious mind talking
• Concentrated• Varies from person to person
• “Flow” • Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
• Meditation, prayer• Using drugs or drinking
Mental fallacies
• Our thinking process is prone to fallacies or irrational outcomes
Evaluating probability
Sunk cost fallacy
Availability heuristic
• Gambler’s fallacy
Evaluating probability
Sunk cost fallacy
• You go to a cinema• You pay your ticket• The movie is very bad
Availability heuristic
• “I can think of it, so it must be important”
Personality
• Description of the unique characteristics of a single individual
• Not a single trait but a combination• Evolves over time• Influences our behaviour
Types or Traits?
Type theory
Trait theory
The Big 5
Introversion / Extraversion
Gratification found inside
Gratification found outside
The Rest of Traits
Openness to experience
The Rest of Traits
Conscientiousness
Classifications of Personality
• Hippocrates• Four humors
• Karl Jung• Myers-Briggs type indicator (MBTI)• Type A / Type B• Enneagram
Personality in the Workplace
• We bring our personality with us to the workplace
• The workplace has different effects on different personality types/traits
• We can adjust ...• But choosing when it’s worth it
Personality in the Workplace
• Sometimes the traits don’t match
• Understand the difference and find common language
• Don’t confuse one trait for another
Communication
Communication Theory
Channel
Message
Sender ReceiverEncoding Decoding
Message
How Communication Works
• SMCR model (David Berlo)
Message
• Speaking skills• Attitude• Knowledge• Culture• Social context
Channel
Sender Receiver• Content• Elements• Treatment• Structure• Code
• Listening skills• Attitude• Knowledge• Culture• Social context
• Hearing• Seeing• Smelling• Tasting• Touching
Beliefs and Stereotypes
Belief
A premise held true
Stereotype
Belief applied to a group
Demo: Beliefs in CommunicationHi Jane! Have you seen the specs for the
Feature X? How long it would take to implement it?
Well, I have done an estimate and I am sure that it would take
eight days.
BELIEFPrecision = Accuracy
BELIEFGood estimation = Precision
Demo: Beliefs in CommunicationHi Jane! Have you seen the specs for the
Feature X? How long it would take to implement it?
Well, I have done an estimate and I think that it would take between six and twelve days.
Between six and twelve days? Why?
The specs for the user permissions are somewhat vague and I think that there are some hidden
assumptions there. We should confirm them to get a firmer estimate.
Types of Communication
VerbalConscious, affected by
unconscious
Non-verbalUnconscious,
complementing conscious
WrittenConscious, precise
Non-Verbal Communication
•Reinforces or weakens verbal communication• Unconscious activity• Culture-dependent
• Body posture
• Eye contact
Non-Verbal Communication
•Gestures
• Closeness / distance
Caveats
• Communication is not symmetric• Sender:
• “what I express” + “what I mean”• Receiver:
• “what I receive” + “what I understand”
• Consequences• What we say is not what they hear• We hear what we want to hear
• Remedies• Active listening• Rephrasing and repeating
Demo: Misunderstanding
How should we install this database system to our server?
I’ll send you the installation instructions right now.
No, I don’t want the installation instructions! I know how to find them!
Demo: Active ListeningHow should we install this database
system to our server?
What exactly is your concern? Do you want to know the installation steps
for the database system?
No, I am concerned about the impact it might have on our existing environment.
Defensive Triggers
• Criticism perceived as a threat• Unconscious threat handling• Inhibits further communication
• Decouple the person from the fact• When delivering criticism• When receiving criticism
• You are not your code!
Communication in the Workplace
• Ensure that your message is correctly understood• Be aware of your non-verbal language
Summary
• We are almost never rational in our behaviour• But we can apply our conscious mind to detect unconscious behaviour
paterns
• Our personality influences our behaviour• But it doesn’t define it
• Communication is much more than saying whay you want to say• Be sure to understand and be understood
More information
• http://www.mindtools.com• http://personalitycafe.com
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