Next Time You’re At A Party, See What Happens When You Ask Someone This Question

You’re at a party and you have a drink in your hand. You’re well dressed, the lights are dim, and music is lightly playing in the background. Your friend walks up to you, gives you a hug, and asks how you are doing. You catch up. A couple of minutes later one of their friends walks by and the two of them hug it out. Then you hear, “Hey, meet my friend so-and-so.” It’s not long before you ask or are asked the question: “So what do you do?”

It’s the classic interaction that probably all of us have gone through.

A) “I’m in finance. I help clients determine when to invest and so forth.”

B) “Ahh that’s cool.”

A) “Ya it’s alright, pays the bills”

B) “True, true.”

While this interaction tells you a little something about a person, it misses out on one of the most important things associated with the question. Why do people do what they do?