Have you ever witnessed someone having difficulty determining the answer to a puzzle? There are a number of different types of puzzles that people use to challenge and entertain themselves—jigsaw puzzles, crossword, and Sudoku puzzles, to name a few. People approach puzzles differently. With jigsaw puzzles, some people begin by sorting the pieces into two piles—pieces that go on the perimeter and those that go on the inside. Once this task is accomplished the person may try to get all of the perimeter pieces in place before filling in the rest of the puzzle. Other people may begin by trying to locate and connect pieces for a focal object in the picture. Individuals also take different approaches to solving crossword puzzles. Do you begin with the items going down or across? Do you take each hint in order, refusing to move on to the next until you’ve solved it, or do you skip over the challenging ones and go back to them at the end? There is no right or wrong way to proceed as long as you ultimately reach your objective—solving the puzzle.
Human behavior can also be a puzzle of sorts and a very fascinating one at that. Everyone plays amateur psychologist from time-to-time, trying to figure out why people behave the way they do, especially when they behave in ways that we do not expect. Social scientists spend their entire careers trying to better understand behavior. Like other types of puzzles, it can be challenging to try to solve the puzzle of human behavior and also very rewarding. In business, human beings (both customers and employees) are crucial to our success and solving the human factor puzzle can have a positive impact on our bottom line—profits.
Q: But how do you go about solving the human factor puzzle to increase profits?
A: The answer is simple—scientific surveys.