Thinking, Fast & Slow

People are not rational.

That was the landmark (and slightly unnerving) finding from psychologist and researcher Daniel Kahneman over a lifetime studying how and why we make decisions.

Kahneman died last week at the age of 90. His research and landmark book “Thinking, Fast and Slow”  impacted a wide range of industries, including communications, and upended countless organizations.

Kahneman’s findings have so many takeaways for marketers and comms pros. It’s hard to pick one to focus on.

Not surprisingly, the insights that impact our work most often revolve around the power of story.

Story as a Shortcut

Kahneman argues that our decision-making is driven by two systems. System 1 represents intuition and instinct (“fast” thinking). System 2 is the more rational thought (“slow” thinking). System 2 requires significant mental effort, and our brains seek to default to System 1 whenever possible.

“Thinking is to humans as swimming is to cats; they can do it but they’d prefer not to,” Kahneman once said.

Instead of engaging in all that rational thought and grappling with overly complex choices, people look for shortcuts to use System 1 thinking. Often, those shortcuts take the form of a story.

When you give people a compelling story, you’re giving them that shortcut to System 1 thinking.

It’s a profound perspective. Marketers need to craft compelling stories to drive people to act. But they also have to be aware of all the existing stories audiences use to default to System 1.

In other words, “You begin by asking ‘Why not?’ instead of ‘Why?’”