The Availability Heuristic: Your Brain’s Sneaky Shortcut to Business Blunders

Introduction

Ever had a brilliant business idea pop into your head, only to realize it’s suspiciously similar to that TED Talk you watched last night? Welcome to the wild world of the Availability Heuristic! This sneaky mental shortcut makes us overestimate the likelihood of events we can easily remember, like that time your colleague’s presentation went viral (for all the wrong reasons). It’s like your brain’s version of “pics or it didn’t happen,” but with potentially costly consequences.

How, Why & Where This is Important to Business

The Availability Heuristic is the office gossip of cognitive biases – it’s everywhere, and it’s influencing more than you think. Alright, let’s dive into how our brain’s sneaky shortcut, the availability heuristic, can lead to some hilarious (and sometimes not-so-hilarious) business blunders. We’re about to turn this mental hiccup into your secret weapon for better decision-making.

For Business Leaders Remember that time you hired the guy with the flashy resume because he reminded you of that one successful CEO you met at a conference? Yeah, that’s your brain playing tricks on you. Next time, try this wild idea: look at actual performance data! Marketing Managers Sure, that viral cat video got millions of views. But before you blow your entire budget on feline influencers, remember: your target audience might not all be crazy cat ladies. Mix in some good old-fashioned market research with those YouTube stats. Creative Professionals That award-winning campaign you can’t stop thinking about? It’s great inspiration, but don’t let it overshadow your own brilliant ideas. Your brain loves familiar concepts, but your clients love originality. Strike a balance! Content Creators Just because your last listicle went viral doesn’t mean every piece of content needs to be ’10 Ways to X’. Your audience has a longer attention span than a goldfish (barely). Mix it up and keep them on their toes! Entrepreneurs Yes, we all know the story of that one college dropout who became a tech billionaire. But before you quit your day job and mortgage your house, remember: your brain loves a good success story. The less glamorous (but more common) startup struggles? Not so much. Do your homework! Product Managers That feature your biggest client won’t stop asking for? It’s screaming for attention in your brain. But before you derail your entire product roadmap, take a breath and check the data. Is it really what the majority of your users need, or just the squeakiest wheel? By being aware of how the availability heuristic can skew our judgment, we can take steps to counteract it:

1. Seek out diverse perspectives, especially ones that challenge your initial thoughts
2. Use data and analytics to balance out anecdotal evidence
3. Take a pause before making big decisions. Sleep on it, if you can!
4. Play devil’s advocate with your own ideas
5. Keep a decision journal to track your thought processes and outcomes

Remember, your brain’s shortcuts can be useful, but they can also lead you astray. By understanding the availability heuristic, you can harness its power when it’s helpful and outsmart it when it’s not. Now go forth and make those brilliant, bias-busting decisions!

Now to the prompts and how to use them

1. Copy the prompts, as is, directly into your chatbot: Perplexity, ChatGPT, Gemini Pro, etc.
2. Reflect on how you can use these prompts to find answers to urgent, pressing questions using Chatbots for your brand to test out ideas.
3. Modify the prompts as you wish and tailor it to your context

Prompts for Marketing

Forget everything you learned about consumer behavior. The availability heuristic is your new secret weapon. It’s like mind-reading, but legal. Dive into these prompts and watch your campaigns transform from “meh” to “mind-blowing.” Your competitors won’t know what hit them.

1. The Earworm Effect: As a marketing manager, create a jingle so catchy, it makes people choose your brand of toothpaste even when they’re shopping for car tires. How’s that for mental availability?
2. Emoji Overload: Design a campaign using only emojis that makes your product more memorable than your grandmother’s secret recipe. Go on, we dare you, marketing wizard!
3. The Newsflash Frenzy: Craft a fake news headline about your product that’s so outrageous, it makes people remember your brand more than their own phone numbers. Challenge your creativity as a marketing strategist!
4. Mascot Madness: Invent a brand mascot so unforgettable, it haunts people’s dreams (in a good way). Bonus points if it’s half unicorn, half office supplies. How can you, as a brand architect, make it iconic?
5. The Sensory Explosion: Develop a marketing strategy that engages all five senses simultaneously. Make your product more vivid than a 4D movie experience. How can you, as a sensory marketer, achieve this?
6. Meme-ory Lane: Create a meme about your product that’s so relatable, people can’t help but think of it every time they blink. Can you, as a digital marketing guru, make it go viral?
7. The Quantum Leap: Design a time-travel themed campaign that makes your brand more present in people’s minds than their own childhood memories. How can you, as a campaign innovator, make it timeless?
8. Influencer Inception: Craft an influencer strategy so clever, it makes people believe your product was their idea all along. Inception, eat your heart out! How can you, as a marketing tactician, pull this off?
9. The Parallel Universe Pitch: Develop an ad campaign set in an alternate reality where your product is as essential as oxygen. Make it more believable than gravity. How can you, as a creative marketer, make it compelling?
10. The Cognitive Glitch: Create a marketing glitch so intriguing, it makes people question reality every time they don’t see your product. Matrix-level mind-bending, anyone? How can you, as a marketing visionary, achieve this?

Prompts For Business Leaders

Leadership books are great paperweights, but let’s talk real influence. The availability heuristic is your boardroom superpower. These prompts will have you shaping perceptions faster than you can say “synergy.” Ready to play 4D chess with decision-making?

1. The Headline Hangover: Your competitor’s recent PR disaster is splashed across every news outlet. How might this vivid coverage skew your risk assessment for similar scenarios?
2. The Unicorn Mirage: You can’t stop thinking about that one-in-a-million startup success story. Are you chasing rainbows or making sound investment decisions?
3. The Quarterly Quandary: Last quarter’s surprise hit product is clouding your judgment. How are you ensuring it’s not overshadowing potentially better opportunities?
4. The Conference Afterglow: That inspiring keynote speech is still ringing in your ears. Are you making strategy shifts based on substance or just a charismatic delivery?
5. The Lawsuit Lurker: A recent high-profile legal case in your industry has you on edge. How might this affect your approach to calculated risks?
6. The Social Media Siren: Your latest tweet went viral. Are you basing your entire marketing strategy on this fleeting moment of internet fame?
7. The Talent Tango: You’re still smarting from losing that star employee last month. Is this recent sting making you overly cautious in your hiring decisions?
8. The Innovation Illusion: Everyone’s buzzing about AI. Are you jumping on the bandwagon or critically assessing its relevance to your business?
9. The Customer Complaint Cascade: That one angry review is stuck in your head. How are you balancing this vivid feedback against overall customer satisfaction data?
10. The Economic Echo Chamber: Recession rumors are swirling. Are you making financial decisions based on headlines or hard data?

Prompts For Creatives

Creativity on demand? It’s not magic, it’s neuroscience. The availability heuristic is your new muse, and these prompts are your paintbrush. Get ready to hack your brain and unleash ideas so fresh, they’ll need a sell-by date.

1. The Muse’s Mirage: Design a campaign that makes people question their most vivid memories. How might this shift their perception of your brand?
2. Stereotype Scrambler: Create a character that defies every cliché in your industry. How does this challenge your own biases in storytelling?
3. The Inspiration Time Machine: If you could only draw from one era for ideas, which would it be? Now, how might this limit your creative scope?
4. Sensory Switcheroo: Describe your latest project using only tastes and smells. How does this alter your perspective on its visual impact?
5. The Creativity Blackout: Imagine all your go-to sources of inspiration vanished overnight. Where would you turn for fresh ideas?
6. Emotional Palette Cleanser: Design a logo that evokes an emotion you rarely work with. How does this stretch your artistic comfort zone?
7. The Quantum Brainstorm: Develop a concept for a parallel universe where your current project flopped spectacularly. What insights does this yield?
8. Trend Teleporter: Fast-forward a decade. Which current design trends will seem hilariously dated? How might this influence your present choices?
9. The Artistic Amnesia: Pretend you’ve forgotten everything about your craft except one core principle. How would you approach your next project?
10. Cognitive Kaleidoscope: Create a piece that deliberately triggers different cognitive biases. How might this impact audience perception?

Prompts For Content Creators

Clickbait is so last season. The availability heuristic is your ticket to content that sticks like gum on a shoe. These prompts will have your audience’s brains doing backflips. Time to make scrolling thumbs pause in awe.

1. The Viral Video Vortex: Your last video went viral. Now you’re convinced cat videos are the only way to success. How might this skew your content strategy?
2. The Hashtag Hysteria: You’re obsessed with that trending hashtag. But is it really relevant to your audience, or just loudly available in your feed?
3. The Influencer Illusion: That one influencer collab blew up. Now you’re seeing potential collabs everywhere. How do you separate the signal from the noise?
4. The Comment Section Conundrum: One troll’s comment is stuck in your head. Are you letting a vocal minority dictate your content direction?
5. The Platform Pendulum: TikTok’s all the rage, so you’re all in. But are you neglecting platforms where your true audience lives?
6. The Metrics Mirage: Those vanity metrics are so easily recalled. But are they truly reflecting your content’s impact?
7. The Trend Trap: You’re chasing every fleeting fad. How do you balance trendy content with evergreen value?
8. The Feedback Fallacy: That one piece of criticism is echoing in your mind. Are you overcompensating based on a single data point?
9. The Format Fixation: You’re convinced long-form is king because of that one viral article. But what if your audience prefers bite-sized content?
10. The Niche Narrowing: You’re laser-focused on a super-specific topic that’s easy to brainstorm. Are you missing out on broader, more impactful themes?

Prompts For Entrepreneurs

Forget unicorns. The availability heuristic is your new mythical beast. These prompts will have you spotting opportunities others miss, like a startup Sherlock. Get ready to disrupt the disruptors and innovate innovation itself.

1. The Viral Venture Vortex: Your competitor’s product just went viral. Suddenly, you’re convinced viral marketing is the only path to success. Are you chasing a shooting star or building a sustainable galaxy?
2. The Investor’s Echo Chamber: That one ‘no’ from a big-shot VC is ringing in your ears. How might this loud rejection be drowning out potential ‘yeses’ elsewhere?
3. The Prototype Paradox: Your first product iteration was a hit with beta testers. Now you’re reluctant to change anything. Are you polishing a gem or clinging to fool’s gold?
4. The Founder’s Fable Fallacy: You can’t stop thinking about that rags-to-riches startup story you read. How might this exceptional tale be skewing your view of typical entrepreneurial journeys?
5. The Cash Flow Mirage: Last month’s unexpected windfall has you feeling flush. Are you making spending decisions based on an oasis or planning for the long haul through the desert?
6. The Talent Tango Trap: That one rockstar employee is dazzling you with their skills. Are you basing your entire hiring strategy on finding their clone?
7. The Market Mood Swing: Recent economic news has you feeling jittery. How might these headlines be overshadowing the actual state of your target market?
8. The Feature Frenzy Folly: Users are clamoring for that one new feature. Are you neglecting your product’s core value in the rush to appease the loudest voices?
9. The Networking Nostalgia: You’re still buzzing from that amazing conference connection. Has this peak experience blinded you to other valuable networking channels?
10. The Pivot Pressure Cooker: That story about a successful last-minute pivot is stuck in your head. Are you too quick to abandon ship at the first sign of rough waters?

Prompts For Product Managers

User stories? Please. The availability heuristic is your crystal ball into customer minds. These prompts will have you predicting needs before users know they have them. Prepare for product roadmaps that read like spoilers.

1. The Feature Flashback Folly: Your most recent product launch is still fresh in your mind. How might this recency be skewing your roadmap priorities for the next quarter?
2. The User Feedback Funhouse: That one vocal customer’s complaint is echoing in your ears. Are you overemphasizing a minor issue at the expense of more significant, but less memorable, user needs?
3. The Competitor’s Shadow: You can’t stop thinking about your rival’s latest feature. Is this overshadowing your product’s unique strengths and market position?
4. The Metrics Mirage: Last month’s spike in a particular KPI has you mesmerized. Are you chasing a data point or building a sustainable product strategy?
5. The Sprint Success Syndrome: Your team just crushed their latest sprint goals. How might this recent win be blinding you to long-term product challenges?
6. The Prototype Pandora’s Box: That flashy new prototype is all you can think about. Are you neglecting less exciting but more crucial product improvements?
7. The Stakeholder Siren Song: The CEO’s latest pet project suggestion is ringing in your ears. How are you balancing executive input with data-driven product decisions?
8. The Tech Trend Tango: Everyone’s talking about AI. Are you jumping on the bandwagon or critically assessing its relevance to your product’s core value?
9. The Customer Anecdote Trap: That heartwarming user story from last week’s meeting is stuck in your head. Are you making product decisions based on outliers rather than broader user patterns?
10. The Legacy Feature Labyrinth: You can easily recall all the reasons for keeping that old feature. But are you objectively evaluating its current value to users?

Conclusion

The Availability Heuristic is like that catchy pop song you can’t get out of your head – it’s not always accurate, but it sure is persistent. By recognizing this bias, we can train ourselves to look beyond recent or vivid experiences and make decisions based on a broader perspective. Remember, in the business world, the most available option isn’t always the best one. So next time your brain tries to take a shortcut, make it take the scenic route instead – your bottom line will thank you.

AI Tools that you can use

The prompts on Phewture are AI tool agnostic. They should work on GeminiPro, ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity. Even on free tools such as llama3 by Meta which you can install on your desktop.

• ChatGPT and Gemini Pro can read Google Files by way of attachment
• Claude can read PDFs.
• Perplexity can read text files and PDFs.

Use these capabilities to upload your prompts and get the best out of these tools.

Next Steps

1. To help you find your way around Phewture, I have put together a set of AI Recipes under Wayfinding. Do go through these and you’ll navigate like a pro through this stream of consciousness. 😄
2. The Learning Methods are exercises that I’d recommend if you wish to wrap your head around the possibilities of using AI Recipes at work, or for play.
3. Don’t forget to leave your comments below and share your joy with your friends on social media. Use the share icons below this post to gain some good karma.

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