Quite Contrary?

Bob Weinstein is a journalist who covers technology, project management, the workplace and career development.

  Career Development  

Most people are victims of the herd mentality. It’s a fact of life that’s seldom given much thought.  The idea is that if a majority of people are taking a stance and acting in unison, there must be some knowledge, facts or truth giving credibility to the action.

But studies at the University of Leeds found this not to be the case. Researchers discovered that it takes a minority of just 5 percent to influence a crowd’s direction--and that the other 95 percent follow without realizing it. But whether a minority or majority triggers a herd response mentality, it’s often not the best course of action. In fact, the opposite course of action may be the opportune path to take.

Many investment advisors, for example, advise against following the herd mentality. Reacting to stock market conditions like lemmings could wind up with disastrous results. You could lose far more than your shirt. The herd mentality is fueled by emotion. More often than not, emotional decisions are not fueled by sound, objective reasoning.

In fact, it’s often dangerous to rely on one approach, strategy or tactic for achieving anything in life. Flaws can be found in all popular strategies. That said, all courses of actions should be considered. A favorite of this reporter is the contrarian approach. Oversimplifying it, if the herd moves en masse and takes a …

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