Often we stand in our own way of better decision making. Here are some helpful reminders of how to make way despite some of our natural tendencies.
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Often we stand in our own way of better decision making. Here are some helpful reminders of how to make way despite some of our natural tendencies.
When facing a problem, our confidence can fluctuate – and widely so. Psychologist, Daniel Kahneman, called over-confidence, ‘the most significant of the cognitive biases’. In getting to grips with this bias it’s critical to understand when we are most prone to it.
Conflict can feel really uncomfortable, unprofessional and unproductive. Yet, avoiding conflict can come at the expense of understanding a situation more deeply. Conflict can help clarify issues and lead to better outcomes. After all, it’s the grit that makes the pearl.
The more information you have, the better, right? Well not always. There’s a fundamental fact that we need to get to grips with. More information doesn’t necessarily lead to better decisions.
Expertise can’t always help us make wiser decisions. Sometimes, it actually gets in our way. This happens if we trip up on the details we’ve cherry picked out as being important, at the expense of the bigger picture.
What if you’ve already decided what happens next? What if you’ve pre-determined the best outcome ahead of time, before you’ve looked for further data or information?
Just like in a pre-nuptial agreement which decides ahead of time what happens following a marriage break up, it can be a powerful strategy to say “If I see X … then I will do Y …?” before you get there.
Ever felt physically exhausted even without undertaking any physical activity? It turns out that a hard day’s thinking can be just as tiring as physical exertion. The fatigue is essentially your brain’s way of telling you to switch off in order to save itself.