A bookshelf assembled by us might be slightly crooked. A sauce prepared at home can be considerably worse than the one from the restaurant. A drawing by our child might lack proportion, perspective, and any resemblance to the object depicted. None of this prevents us from looking at it with pride, as if it were something almost insurmountable. Especially the child's drawing.This phenomenon is known as the "Ikea effect", a term coined by researchers Michael I. Norton, Daniel Mochon, and Dan Ariely. In their experiments, they found that people valued objects they had helped assemble or create – Ikea boxes, origami figures, or Lego pieces – more than people who had not participated in their creation.The Ikea effect is explained because we incorporate our effort into the result. The object comes to contain a small part of ourselves.Companies know this well. Some products arrive unassembled. Others allow you to choose colors, add initials, combine ingredients, or design certain features. The customer works, but experiences this work as customization. The greater their involvement, the stronger the bond with the result.The phenomenon goes far beyond furniture. A meal tastes better when we have cooked it ourselves. A trip seems more valuable when we have organized it for weeks. A business idea excites us more if it was born in our notebook. Or on the bar's paper napkin! Even a potted plant produces more satisfaction when we plant the seed and slowly observe its growth.We live effort as an investment. After dedicating time to something, we need to think it was worth it. Recognizing that the result is mediocre would force us to admit that we have wasted our time and that we lack skill. That is why we mentally increase the quality of the result.The Ikea effect can be used well. Participating increases commitment. Employees get more involved in plans they have helped to build. Students remember better the conclusions they reach on their own. Citizens take better care of the spaces they have collaborated in improving.Creating generates affection. The problem begins when we confuse love for the process with the quality of the result. Sometimes, a crooked shelf remains a crooked shelf, even if we've spent the whole afternoon assembling it.In the end, we are human and subject to dozens of biases. Discovering them forces us to evolve and perfect ourselves as people.I hope you have enjoyed this summer series dedicated to behavior. Next week I will return to current events.

News at various levels in the Catalan wine sector. Just weeks after the renewal of the presidency of the Regulatory Council of Cava, which placed Marta Vidal at the head of the designation of origin (DO) of Spanish sparkling wines, the employers' association of producers will have to change its president. The direction of Barcelona Wine Week, the main wine event in the country's capital, is also being reshaped. Outside the vineyard, PepsiCo is undertaking an appointment in its human resources department, and Ikea in Spain seeks to build "an increasingly relevant, close, and accessible brand".

The days leading up to Christmas are the peak time of year when large stores are packed with shoppers looking for gifts and food to enjoy the holidays. However, behind these shopping sprees are employees who are denouncing the excessive workload they have to shoulder during this period and the fact that some department store chains are forcing them to work Sundays and holidays without extra pay. Dozens of these employees protested this Thursday outside the Ikea store in Hospitalet de Llobregat, called by the CCOO union, to express their discontent and demand improvements in work-life balance and wages in these types of establishments. "Worked Sunday, paid Sunday" and "They don't give us any option for work-life balance" were some of the slogans chanted by representatives of staff from multinationals such as Ikea, Carrefour, and Leroy Merlin.

It was announced in mid-August, but went largely unnoticed, and this November the change has materialized, placing Juvencio Maeztu at the top of the global furniture giant. Maeztu has been the new CEO of Ingka Group (Ikea) for a few days now, and it is the most notable appointment this week, in which the Catalan Institute for the Evaluation of Public Policies (Ivalua) renewed its presidency after seven years with the addition of Marc Esteve Laporta.