On Monday, I posted about how what appears to be irrational behavior may actually make complete sense from a different perspective. Or, more specifically, people don't think just in terms of self-interest, but also in terms of the group they identify with.

This got edited out of the final version of Monday's post, but Godin also has an argument about apparently irrational behavior. It can be summarized as 'if you want to understand someone, walk a mile in their shoes.'

In it he's arguing against the assumption that someone else is displaying bad judgment just because you don't like how they're behaving. Or to put it another way, just because someone's reaction seems to be irrational doesn't mean that it is; you may just not have all the facts.

I don't have a direct tie in to why this is important for marketers other than the one Godin cites; the more marketers think about what motivates people, the more likely they'll know how to reach customers.

With luck, this type of thinking may also make us slightly nicer, more understanding people, which is never a bad thing.