Are You Falling Into a Planning Trap?
Publication: Cognitive Bias | decision making | Leadership Insight
We all love to believe we are good decision-makers; I certainly like to think that. Yet, there are times when I don’t make good decisions. I am particularly bad at assessing how much capacity I have during the day. A perfect example. An invitation for an evening event during the work week comes through. The […]
Don’t bypass the past
Publication: Cognitive Bias | Historical Insight | Reflective Learning
In high school, one of my favourite subjects was history. So much so that I thought about becoming a history teacher. Not surprising then that one of my favourite quotes is from the Danish Philosopher Søren Kierkegaard: “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” And yet, we can be overly future-focused. We […]
What are you not seeing?
Publication: Cognitive Bias | Pattern Blindness | Perspective Shift
Over the weekend, Craig, Barney and I went for our usual walk, but this time instead of turning right, we turned left. That simple change in our routine sparked surprising results. We found a whole new area to explore (see picture below) – never realising that this gorgeous part of the world was right in our […]
Are you really choosing?
Publication: Cognitive Bias | Decision Fatigue | Deliberate Decisions
It’s highly unlikely that you woke us this morning and thought ‘My goal today is to make a really bad decision’. And yet, it can be so easy to make poor decisions. As the field of behavioural economics shows we are not rational beings, and we regularly make imperfect decisions. We make decisions based on […]
Don’t keep yourself in the dark
Publication: Cognitive Bias | Informed Decision-Making | Media Literacy
In the era of fake news and a social media environment where image appears to be everything it is more important than ever to be curious and to look beyond the surface. It’s often never what it seems. In recent times, I’ve been fascinated to watch the Theranos scandal unfold. Theranos is the failed biomedical […]
Progress isn’t a one-way street
Publication: Cognitive Bias | Curiosity Drive | Failure Insight | Learning Growth | Progress Mindset
The word ‘progress’ commonly means to ‘move forward’ or ‘advance’. Its definition implies that progress is always a forward action. But progress isn’t that simple. It comes in many shapes and sizes. And it’s certainly not a one-way street. Why? Because strangely enough when you feel like you are going backwards you may well be making […]
Want to make better decisions? Go to sleep
Publication: Cognitive Bias | decision making | Mental Performance | Productivity Tips
We all make many, many decisions every day. Every time you make a decision you use up precious resources in your brain. Do you think about how and when you are making decisions? If you don’t, you’re in danger of making decisions when your brain isn’t at its peak. Your brain is like a muscle. […]
Is your decision making dangerous?
Publication: Cognitive Bias | Decision Making Bias | Robust Decisions
We all love to believe we are rational beings and that this rationality extends to how we make decisions. Unfortunately, it’s not the case. Bias pervades our decision making. And this is dangerous when the bias is unconscious. This is because we don’t make decisions on facts alone. We make decisions on hunches, feelings and […]