Want to get into Harvard? Make sure your parents went there. Legacy students have a 33% chance of winning a place vs 6% for the rest. (Alternatively, become an elite athlete and your chance of getting in goes up to 86%)
All Threads
Pollster Frank Luntz tested three different ways of describing changes to Medicare spend.
1) Increase from $178 billion to $250 billion over six years (the “billions to billions” approach).
2) Increase by 6.4% a year, every year, for six years (the “year over year” strategy).
3) Increase from $4,700 per person per year to $6,200 per person per year (the “personalised” approach).
Mathematically they’re all the same, but in practice the third option was by far the most popular – people want to understand the individual benefit from government policies.
At Heathrow airport, 80% of noise complaints come from just 10 people.
In 1944 two researchers, Heider and Simmel, showed people some basic animated shapes and asked them to describe what they saw. The abstract shapes soon became a story. Viewers saw characters with emotions, motivations, and purpose. They personified the inanimate figures using words like “escaped,” “slammed,” “danced,” or “kissed” to describe their actions. They depicted them with tempers; as cowardly, or as viciously conspiring. If you ever needed proof that humans are meaning making creatures, this is it.
They were the most successful industrialists of the 20th century, but their philosophies were poles apart. For Ford the car was everything: a means of improving welfare and achieving global peace. For Sloan it was merely a product: “the primary object of the General Motors corporation is to make money, not just to make motor cars.”
Or is it Specsavers? Weetabix? Cillit Bang?
We still don’t know how many homes are built in the UK each year. Housing data has historically come from the National Housebuilding Council (NHBC) – an organisation established to provide warranties on new homes. But NHBC’s market share has deteriorated in the last few years – from 85% to 60% – which means a significant proportion of homes aren’t counted. By compring to other records, like council tax, it’s estimated that half of new homes in London were missed in 2023.
Kaiser’s company was one of those that built the Hoover Dam, but he knew practically nothing about shipbuilding. However, rather than seeing this as a disadvantage, he approached the challenge from a fresh perspective. Instead of relying on British expertise, he asked himself how to build ships without expert workers. His solution was to redesign the assembly process using prefabricated parts, so workers only needed to learn a small part of the job. He introduced American assembly-line techniques and, unaware that heavy machinery was supposedly necessary for cutting metal accurately, had his workers use simple oxyacetylene torches instead. Similarly, he replaced traditional riveting with welding, which proved both cheaper and faster.
In 1776 James Watt needed a simple way to explain the power of his improved steam engine. So he framed it in familiar terms, claiming that one of his improved steam engines could produce enough power to replace 10 cart-pulling horses, or 10 ‘horsepower’ . In doing so he made the term a standard measure of engine power still used today.
Passengers at Houston airport frequently complained about the long wait at baggage claim. Conventional wisdom says speed up the process or hire more baggage handlers. But the airport simply moved the arrival gates so that they were further away from baggage claim; increasing the walk time and eliminating dead waiting time. Complaints soon dissapeared.
Stamp a best before date on them. Sales of Tontine pillows tripled as a result of this innovation.
Better Days (Natalia Gutierrez y Angelo song)
The 2011 UK census showed that a whopping 58% of residents in England identified as English only. Skip forward a decade and this number plunged to 15%. Was this a significant decline in nationalism? No, a botched survey. In 2011 “English” was the first option and “British” was the fifth; in 2021 “Britain” came top of the list.
Originally positioned as a meal replacement solution for time pressed gymgoers, Huel has increased revenue by extending its range; it now includes hot and savoury meals, such as pasta bolognese and curries, and snack bars. According to CEO James McMaster, “it widens our ability in the future to go into more markets, where maybe it’s less about the pace of life and more about a need for great nutrition.”
The American diner changed its name to “IHOb” to promote its new range of burgers. A simple tweak to its brand codes, but a powerful way of driving awareness and sales (which increased 4x).