Recently,
a writer posted that she was banning
a reader from winning her contests.
(which is illegal
but that’s an entirely different post)
Why?
Because the reader wins
too many contests.
The writer determined that
this reader was a contest hound,
someone only interested
in winning free stuff.
I know this reader is an influential
(she blogs and reviews
under different names).
I also know this reader often wins blog contests
because she comments on a lot of blogs,
whether there is a contest or not.
The winning is a side effect of the commenting.
Now, we might scoff
and call this writer a dumb ass,
but we ALL do this.
We see an effect
(she wins a lot of contests),
we find a ’cause’
(she enters a lot of contests),
and we assume the motivation.
(she must only be interested in winning the contest).
And these assumptions
can lead to very wrong, business damaging decisions.
Don’t assume motivations
based upon actions.