Powerful ideas from top nonfiction
Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 7,000+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.
Start your free trial
Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
Listen to the Intro
The Upside of Irrationality summary
Dan Ariely
The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home
18 mins
Topics
Table of Contents
The Upside of Irrationality
Summary of 8 key ideas
Audio & text in the Blinkist app
Key idea 1 of 8
A hefty bonus isn’t always the best incentive.
Most of us assume that the higher the incentive, the more time and effort we put into a job – and the better the quality of our output. Based on this logic, CEOs and stockbrokers receive eye-wateringly generous bonuses every year. But the logic behind this notion has been seriously called into question by several studies.
In one experiment, rats were put in a maze and given electric shocks. The higher the intensity of the shock, the more the animals struggled to find the escape route. Instead of being stimulated to find their way, they froze and completely forgot the layout of the maze.
If you replace the shocks with money and the rats with people, you can imagine how challenging it is to concentrate when a fat bonus package is hovering over you at work. Just like rats, people don’t give their best when they’re placed under intense pressure.
That said, there are times when high incentives foster high performance, but it’s only when the task at hand is primarily mechanical or manual. When it comes to innovation and creation, it’s a different story.
CEOs aren’t paid for manual labor, and bonus-based incentives may even be detrimental when it comes to problem-solving, creating and innovating. In fact, the potential of a huge bonus can actually make them perform worse.
We can clearly see the impact of stress when we give a speech: our preparation goes well behind closed doors, but everything can suddenly fall apart when we’re faced with an audience. Here, the culprit is our hypermotivation to impress.
So what can we do?
One solution could be to offer employees average bonuses, i.e., the average of an individual employee’s bonuses over the past five years. Performance would still be rewarded, but the pressure to perform before a deadline would be reduced, which would lead to less stress and better results.
Want to see all full key ideas from The Upside of Irrationality?
Key ideas in The Upside of Irrationality
More knowledge in less time
Read or listen
Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
Find your next read
Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
Shortcasts New
We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.
What is The Upside of Irrationality about?
In The Upside of Irrationality (2011), Dan Ariely uses behavioral economics to show us why we behave irrationally, how it affects our decision-making processes, and what we can do to make better choices.
Who should read The Upside of Irrationality?
- Psychology and behavioral economics students
- People who want to know why they act irrationally sometimes
- People curious about human behavior
Categories with The Upside of Irrationality
Books like The Upside of Irrationality
People ❤️ Blinkist
Sven O.
It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.
Thi Viet Quynh N.
Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.
Jonathan A.
Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.
Renee D.
Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.
People also liked
Start growing with Blinkist now
28 Million
Downloads on all platforms
4.7 Stars
Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
91%
Of Blinkist members create a better reading habit*
*Based on survey data from Blinkist customers