March 2020
At election time, condo owners must choose who they want to manage their home. Among the candidates there may be some liars and B.S.ers. A liar knows the truth and ignores it. A B.S.er doesn’t care about the truth. Both are equally effective at hiding the truth to get what they want by appealing to our emotion.
There is considerable research showing that emotion trumps reason when it comes to decision making. As with politics, this has implications when electing leadership for a condo corporation.
It has been shown that “simple” solutions are viewed more favourably than those that require more knowledge or research. We see this in elections where evidence and proof take a back seat to expediency and promises. This was the appeal of former Mayor Rob Ford’s “end the gravy train” campaign and the rise of President Trump. Canadians have proven, time and again, that they buy into these superficial promises despite evidence to the contrary.
More people are less swayed by fact, data, statistics, details and policies than by emotion, thus failing to make informed decisions.
When it comes to electing condo directors, as with politicians, emotion arising from fears and wishes nearly always comes out ahead of reason. Good slogans trump good information during elections of all types. A few promises and a slogan or two works best at attracting a majority of votes.
Time and again, exploiters of emotion have proven effective at winning elections despite any ability to deliver on promises. Our resistance to fact allows these individuals to take advantage of our inability to reason. “Common sense” has become a justification against fact and reason appealing to so many that successful election campaigns of former Mayor Rob Ford and President Trump are history.
We deserve and will receive better management of our communities only after we begin to value fact and reason ahead of emotion.
