1. DECISION MAKING

2. Faulty Decision Making GUT INSTINCTS UNCONSCIOUS DECISION MAKING TRAPS

3. Five Habits of Bad Decision Making l Fixing the problem too fast l Communicating ineffectively l Paying more attention to some individuals than is warranted Using beliefs and guesswork instead of facts Not knowing the limits of your decision making authority

4. HEURISTICS l UNCONSCIOUS ROUTINES Sensory Preception Biases Irrational Anomalies

5. COMMON DECISION MAKING TRAPS l ANCHORING Giving disproportionate weight to the first information that is received. Stereotyping skin color, clothing, or accent

6. DECISION TRAPS l HOW CAN WE REDUCE THE IMPACT OF ANCHORING ? Be open-minded seek information and opinions from a variety of people to widen your frame of reference offer objective information when seeking advice from someone else, just the facts

7. DECISION TRAPS l REMEMBER: WHOEVER MOST VIVIDLY CHARACTERIZES THE SITUATION USUALLY ANCHORS THE OTHER’S PERCEPTION OF IT.

8. THE STATUS QUO TRAP l INSTINCTIVELY STAYING WITH WHAT IS FAMILIAR Look for decisions that involve the least change avoid changing the status quo avoid rocking the boat

9. STATUS QUO TRAP l Think first of your goals when preparing to make a decision l Review how goals are served by the status quo as compared to a change l Look at each possible change, one at a time

10. STATUS QUO l Never think of the status quo as your only alternative l ask yourself if you would choose the status quo if it weren’t the status quo

11. STATUS QUO l Avoid the tendency to exaggerate the effort, cost or emotional reaction if you change from the status quo. l If several alternatives are superior to the status quo, avoid the tendency to fall back to the same old tried and true method

12. DECISION TRAPS l JUSTIFYING PAST ACTIONS l The more actions that you have already taken on behalf of a choice or direction, the more difficult you will find it to change direction or make a different choice.

13. PAST ACTIONS l TO OVERCOME JUSTIFYING PAST ACTIONS: Make a conscious effort to set aside your past actions Seek out and listen to people who were uninvolved with the earlier decisions Deal with your wounded ego

14. PAST ACTIONS l WHEN YOU FIND YOURSELF IN A HOLE, THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO IS STOP DIGGING

15. CONFIRMING EVIDENCE TRAP l WHEN WE LOOK FOR INFORMATION TO SUPPORT OUR EXISTING POINT OF VIEW WHILE AVOIDING INFORMATION THAT CONTRADICTS IT

16. CONFIRMING EVIDENCE TRAP l TWO FORCES AT WORK Tendency to subconsciously decide what we want to do before we figure out why we want to do it Tendency to be more engaged by things we like than by things we dislike

17. AVOIDING THE CONFIRMING EVIDENCE TRAP l Always check to see whether you are examining all the evidence with equal enthusiasm l Avoid the tendency to accept confirming evidence without question l Get someone you respect to play devils advocate

18. AVOIDING THE CONFIRMING EVIDENCE TRAP l Be honest with yourself about your motives l Don’t ask leading questions that make your decision evident

19. THE FRAMING TRAP l How you make a decision is often determined by how you view your choices or how you frame the questions around it

20. Frames That Can Distort Decision Making l Frames as a gain or loss Most people don’t like to take risks and will look for ways to turn down or avoid a decision where a loss is possible, even if a larger chance exists for a large gain.

21. Framing l People tend to adopt the framing of the situation as it is presented to them, rather that restating the problem in their own way

22. Framing l Don’t automatically accept the initial frame l Try to look at the problem or opportunity in several ways and invision different outcomes.

23. Estimating and Forcasting Trap l Three ways we make mistakes in forcasting: Overconfidence: We believe we are better at forecasting than we really are Prudence: When faced with a high stakes decision we tend to stay on the safe side Recallability We tend to be overly influenced by past events

24. REMEMBER l Look around you and notice these traps l Before you make a decision, take time to review how you’re making it. l Don’t get emotionally attached to one outcome before you’re sure your decision making process serves you well.