Decisions, decisions, decisions. We all make them and goodness knows how many we make in any one day. Of course, some of them are easier to make than others. Yep, sometimes we think fast. Actually most of the time, we think fast. Though speed does not mean accuracy all the time. A lot of the time, yes. But not all. Oh, and it’s effortless. Intuitive. Well, according to Daniel Kahneman that is. He of Thinking Fast and Slow fame. He’s also famous for having won the Nobel Prize for economics, with Amos Tversky, for his work on those irrational economic choices that we all make. Anyway, in the UK, last week’s BBC Horizon TV programme was all about our decision making – and I’ve just got round to watching it. Busy. Busy. You know how it is. And Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow was featured.
So what’s Thinking Fast and Slow all about? And, can we make smarter decisions?
Here’s a snippet. And rather than explaining it. Why not experience it now? What’s 2+2=?
I’m guessing the answer came easy. And quickly. Probably effort free? Great. Now what about 17 x 24? What does that equal?
The chances are that unless you’re a maths whizz, you’ll be taking slow logical steps. It’s multiplication. What were the multiplication rules again? Let’s start with 10 times 24. I’ll leave the rest to you. My calculator app is already out. Basically this is a different type of thinking to when we did the 2 plus 2 example. It requires our attention. Daniel Kahneman suggests we have two systems of thinking: the fast system 1 – our hare, and the slower system 2 – our tortoise. System 2 slow thinking requires a lot of work so it can’t do everything. We like to think it does. Slow thinking has to pick its moments as to when to work. But sometimes we use the wrong system of thinking to make a decision. This is can explain, in part, when some mistakes happen. These are our glitches in thinking. There are lots of them. Most of the time, we don’t know that we’ve made a mistake. It’s down to our cognitive biases.
So to make smarter decisions, let’s be aware of our cognitive biases (there’s a long list by the way, with more being added) and seek work-arounds. Right?! Ah, not quite. Making mistakes is human nature and there’s much debate as to whether we can change our biases. We probably can reduce some. Having done some research on perception, I’ve looked into illusions, attentional blind-spots, over-confidence, under-confidence and the pressure of expectations amongst other things. There’s a lot going on and it’s complex. Great. What’s the point of telling me about thinking fast and slow, then?
We can change our environment to minimise the effect of some of these biases. Opportunities for slow as well as fast thinking. We can recognise situations where errors are more likely to occur. And, it’s easier to recognise other people’s mistakes over our own (so feel free to add your comments!). In my view, sound-board some of your high impact or critical decisions with others. Consider how you frame that problem. What information is relevant and/or needs to be gathered. Plus build in some reflection and review time. Can be done when going for a coffee or glass of water. Also, develop the number of perspectives that you’re able to look from – for that situation or dilemma of yours. Maybe, develop your expert intuition, so that for those circumstances where you’ve got a lot of knowledge, your intuition is more likely to get things right.
It’s difficult. If only, there was a quick and easy way…
Thinking fast and slow good reads / ones to watch
Kahneman, D. (2011) Thinking, Fast and Slow. (e-book.) London: Penguin.
Kahneman, D. and Tversky, A. (1996) ‘On the Reality of Cognitive Illusions’, Psychological Review. Vol. 103, No. 3, pp. 582–591.
Daniel Kahneman in bit-sized videos courtesy of Inc (no captions) http://www.inc.com/daniel-kahneman/idea-lab-making-smarter-decisions.html
Daniel Kahneman on Ted talks on happiness and our different selves http://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_kahneman_the_riddle_of_experience_vs_memory
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