Fault Lines in Default Settings
Fault Lines in Default Settings
And reasons for questioning the norms that have become habits.
“We either live with intention or exist by default.” - Kristin Armstrong
I was traveling recently from Mumbai and headed for the lounge access available on my credit card, hoping to get some quiet time and a nice red wine before my departure. I had a spring to my step and I was excited to head to Dubai and meet my wife, while I was listening to my favorite music from Kerala Dust.
This hope was to be dashed by the sight I saw at the lounge. There was an extremely long queue outside, some clamoring for the receptionist’s attention, some demanding a reason for not being allowed access and some looking at their watch and wondering how long will this take.
This wasn’t the place where I would get any quiet and in a flash I turned around and started hunting for a place to spend my 120 minutes before the flight and may be read the remainder of Antifragile by Nassim Taleb.
I spotted a swanky Starbucks and ironically it was empty inspite of the comfortable chairs and a chill vibe for customers who seek to enjoy their coffee/tea in quiet. This is exactly what I was looking for, and I headed straight to the counter for my cup of decaf coffee. Since they don’t serve decaf, I settled for green tea.
Funnily, while sipping my hot cuppa tea, I was struggling to understand the reason for people to stand in line for lounge access that is not going to be quiet, that isn’t serving the best food or wine, that isn’t the most comfortable of places before taking a flight, especially the Mumbai Airport one. I wanted to know what makes these people ruin hours for a mediocre service that has been packaged as a premium service and bundled together with their financial products like cards or bank accounts.
Is this because of free food and drinks? Is this because their credit cards offer free lounge access and one must squeeze the most benefits available to them? Is this because others are standing in the line so maybe it’s a better choice instead of spending more money in other cafes?
I don’t know the exact reason but I think people’s acceptance of the default setting is what makes them tolerate the frustrating line and the nuisance of waiting for a lounge filled with tired and hungry passengers. Lounge access could have been one of the reasons they subscribed to this specific credit card and now they have to use this to rationalize making a good choice. Or some version on these lines.
It’s very similar to any default setting that one gets sucked into. Let’s look at a few examples -
If drinks are being served at a party, then you might give in too for a drink or two
If sugar-loaded bombs are served as desserts for almost all occasions, you might as well have it too (especially since it is an important occasion)
If your Twitter feed is talking about a specific stock or cryptocurrency, then you might load up on it too
Since your entire circle of friends consumes luxury goods and dons them on a daily basis, you might walk into Gucci for a pair of floaters too
If nobody reads around you and it is the norm, then you might adopt the habit too
If nobody around you works on their physique and that’s okay as life is busy as it is, then you might not see the insides of a gym too
If scrolling on social media isn’t frowned upon culturally today, then why not spend every free minute on TikTok or Instagram too?
There are so many default settings around us and it is cognitively not possible to question every default behavior or action being laid upon us subconsciously, turning us into a herd that gives in and is expected to predictably give in to these settings time and again.
Marketers have understood the tricks of the trade too and hence will design our experiences in a way that will nudge us into making decisions that benefit them more than us. Just think of the few examples provided below -
Ikea would require you to traverse the entire store before you reach the cash counter, even if you found your coveted item in the 1st two minutes after entering the store. Why not have shortcuts directly to the cash counter?
Supermarkets like Carrefour will keep the fresh produce at the remotest corner or deep inside the store so that you get a glimpse of umpteen packaged goods with the highest margins for the retailer.
Every subscription service will auto-renew without your permission. And if you want to cancel it, most will make it subtly hard to navigate the ‘manage subscription’ options. It’s subtle but it’s there. Try comparing the process for subscribing vs. unsubscribing and you just might spot the nuances. Just like I spotted the Starbucks at the airport.
Every cinema serves mostly junk food i.e. popcorn, nachos, and aerated drinks. And that too giant sizes which could fill the quota for your monthly consumption of sugar. Ever wondered why they don’t serve anything healthy? I’d love to see cinemas offer edamame or makhaana (fox nuts) as snacks.
Some restaurants or delivery companies will charge you an extra fee or a specific tip amount by default.
I still remember eating at a restaurant in Prague, Czech Republic and the bill came to EUR 15.5 and I handed them a EUR 20 bill waiting for the change so I could tip the staff and leave. The change never came, and when I enquired about the balance amount, the staff stated that it was taken as a tip by default.
Wow. I never knew that the staff in Prague could have these powers bestowed upon them. I wasn’t happy and thought that this may be the norm of the place. But it wasn’t. I just had to assert that this wasn’t right and ask for the change, which might make me look rude or insensitive. And I didn’t want to look bad, no one wants that of course. So I got up and left with a puppy face, having no power over the default setting forced upon me. This cracks me up even today.
Anurag Sharma has written a fantastic book on investing called ‘Book of Value’ and he makes a very profound statement in there - “Precisely because analysis is vulnerable to corruption from confirmation bias and its many cousins, a mental orientation of refutation and disconfirmation is paramount.”
Unless we question the choices available to us, we will become easy prey to everyone around us who is dishing us a product, a service, an ideology, or a cause. And in case you have an illusion that everyone doesn’t have an offering for us to consume, then I invite you to head to Starbucks and order a triple expresso and then think about the questions below -
What made you buy the car you drive?
Where did you pick up the habits you have?
What made you buy the mobile phone you use?
What made you invest in the asset classes you own?
Where did you pick up your thought patterns from?
Who all influenced your attitude and perspective on life?
What made you read that book that you are halfway through?
Collate these answers together and you will notice that this collection is a very diverse set of people coming from all walks of life and reaching out to you without a set agenda to do so. This list will have family members, friends, colleagues, ex-colleagues, YouTube personalities, book authors, podcasters, bloggers, the eminent dead, movie stars, athletes, college professors, and even your foes.
They influenced you through their words, actions, or demeanor. They etched important messages in your mental toolkit. They shaped your attitude in a certain way. They opened you up to the world of possibilities or suppressed you into thinking small. They encouraged you to be bold and experiment, or they scared you into never risking failure.
Everyone around us influences us - consciously, subconsciously, and unconsciously. And it’s precisely for these reasons that we ought to be on guard through refutation and disconfirmation, just as Anurag Sharma recommends.
I was surprised to know that Jeff Bezos has barred PowerPoint presentations completely at Amazon. Every meeting begins with everyone reading a 6-page narratively structured memo together for 30 minutes. He even stated at a Forum on Leadership ″It is harder for the author, but it forces the author to clarify their own thinking, It totally revolutionizes the way we do meetings at Amazon.”
He also is often the one who finishes the reading material last. The reason is that he has a way to his reading style. He reads very slowly, he re-reads until he understands what’s being stated, and he strives to find out the contrary points to every statement being made. Unless he isn’t convinced, he doesn’t move ahead to the next statement.
Even Jeff Bezos is on guard while consuming what’s being dished out to him by his top generals, who happen to be the smartest in the world of business. If he goes the extra mile to refute what’s the default message or disconfirm the default setting, you and I ought to do the same.
We are mere mortals compared to him, but being mindful is accessible to us all.
So next time you see a crowded lounge, turn around and look for Starbucks. This will save you tonnes of time and give you peace of mind too. Some things are just not worth the hassle in life.
Recommendations of the week #
Morgan Housel hits another home run with his new piece. Every time I think of not sharing a link for a write-up from Morgan, he then writes something so profound and beautiful, that not sharing it will be tantamount to crime. In this piece, he talks about the few things that he is sure of, irrespective of where you are in the arc of life. And I couldn’t refute a single point from the list👌 All the best with finding something you don’t agree with in that list.
For any lovers of Snooker here, sharing with you a video of the fastest-ever 147 break in the history of the game. Though Ronnie Sullivan looks absolutely in control here, I got to understand after reading his autobiography ‘Unbreakable’ that his frame of mind was all over the place at that moment. This fact makes the 147 break look even more commendable.
Wishing you all a fantastic weekend ahead 🤝
Sending you loads of love and luck as always 🧿
Manish