Learn about how to find what you love doing and excel at it, from author David Epstein. You’ll also learn about why you should always present good news along with bad news. In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following story from Curiosity.com about why it’s best to say “I have good news and bad news” — https://curiosity.im/2XpkiZn Additional resources from David Epstein: Get your copy of “Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World” on Amazon — https://amazon.com “The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance” — https://amazon.com Official website — https://www.davidepstein.com/ Follow @DavidEpstein on Twitter — https://twitter.com/DavidEpstein Remember the ‘10,000 Hours’ Rule for Success? Forget About It | The New York Times — https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/28/books/review/david-epstein-range.html Want to support our show?Register for the 2019 Podcast Awards and nominate Curiosity Daily to win for People’s Choice, Education, and Science & Medicine. After you register, simply select Curiosity Daily from the drop-down menus (no need to pick nominees in every category): https://curiosity.im/podcast-awards-2019 Download the FREE 5-star Curiosity app for Android and iOS at https://curiosity.im/podcast-app. And Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — just click “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.
Learn about how to find what you love doing and excel at it, from author David Epstein. You’ll also learn about why you should always present good news along with bad news.
In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following story from Curiosity.com about why it’s best to say “I have good news and bad news” — https://curiosity.im/2XpkiZn
Additional resources from David Epstein:
Want to support our show? Register for the 2019 Podcast Awards and nominate Curiosity Daily to win for People’s Choice, Education, and Science & Medicine. After you register, simply select Curiosity Daily from the drop-down menus (no need to pick nominees in every category): https://curiosity.im/podcast-awards-2019
Download the FREE 5-star Curiosity app for Android and iOS at https://curiosity.im/podcast-app. And Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — just click “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.
Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/finding-what-you-love-to-do-w-david-epstein-and-how-to-deliver-bad-news
CODY: Hi! We’re here from curiosity-dot-com to help you get smarter in just a few minutes. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Today, you’ll learn about how to find what you love doing and excel at it, with author David Epstein. You’ll also learn about why you should always present good news along with bad news.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
Interview Clip 2 - How to find what you love to do and how to become a generalist (Both)
CODY: Yesterday, author David Epstein told us about research into some of the advantages of being a generalist instead of a specialist. He also wrote a whole book about the topic, titled “Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World.” Now that you’ve heard about the benefits of being a generalist, let’s find out how to become one. Here’s the second half of our interview with David Epstein.
[CLIP 2:53]
ASHLEY: Isn’t it refreshing to hear you can have a future in a field even without being super-specialized? I told David that like him, I’ve also zigged and zagged in my career, and when people ask me how I do what I do, I’m not really sure what to tell them. So when someone asks you “how do I become successful,” what SHOULD you tell them? Here’s what David recommends.
[CLIP 1:33]
CODY: So remember to play around, and reflect on your experience after you do stuff! Then, maybe you, too, can reap the benefits of being a generalist. Again, that was David Epstein, and his new book is titled “Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World.” We’ll put a link to pick it up in today’s show notes.
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The Silver Lining Effect Is Why It's Best to Say "I Have Good News and Bad News" — https://curiosity.im/2XpkiZn (Ashley) [FREELANCER]
ASHLEY: Cody, I’ve got some good news and I’ve got some bad news.”
CODY: What
ASHLEY: Well the good news is… the phrase I just said makes bad news easier to handle
CODY: What’s the bad news
ASHLEY: The bad news is that I don’t actually have any bad news, so I can only demonstrate half of this concept.
[ad lib]
ASHLEY: Research actually does show that when you've got both positive and negative information for someone, it’s better to use that time-tested phrase than it is to deliver it all at once.
This was confirmed in a 1985 experiment performed by economist Richard Thaler. Cornell University students were asked to decide which character they felt was more upset in two comparative scenarios. In both scenarios, the character’s car is damaged in a parking lot. In the first scenario, the character spends $200 to repair the damage, but on the same day, wins $25 in the office football pool. In the second scenario, the character spends $175 to repair the damage. Even though both men lost the same amount of money, most of the students thought the second character was more upset. This is explained by a theory that says that people don’t weigh alternatives equally, but make decisions based on their fear of loss. Because the first character had a gain with his loss, students perceived his situation as better.
In 2008, researchers looked further into this phenomenon and determined that the smaller the positive amount and the larger the negative amount, the more people preferred that the information be presented separately rather than summed together.
This idea has implications in lots of different areas. For example, a 2016 study found that media audiences are happier when a story about a negative event highlights something positive that came out of it. That's a good lesson for news outlets who want to balance the important job of reporting negative news with keeping their readers happy.
There are implications for investing and sales, too. For example, in finance, investors wouldn’t mind seeing a mutual fund post a quarterly loss if it was also pointed out that portions of the portfolio had posted a gain. In a retail example, a car priced at $20,000 with a $500 rebate is perceived as better than than the same car priced at $19,500 without a rebate.
It's just like Mary Poppins's sage advice: a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.
CODY: Before we recap what we learned today, quick reminder that you can support our show by nominating Curiosity Daily to be a finalist in the 2019 Podcast Awards! You can register at podcast-awards-dot-com, or find a link in today’s show notes. You can find Curiosity Daily in the categories of People’s Choice, Education, and Science & Medicine. It’s free to vote and will really help us out. And now, let’s recap what we learned today.
ASHLEY: Today we learned that you can be more successful if you try new things, AND reflect on your experience afterwards.
CODY: And that you should deliver a little bit of good news with that bad news you’ve got for someone.
[ad lib optional]
ASHLEY: Join us again tomorrow to learn something new in just a few minutes. I’m [names etc, stay curious]