You know that feeling when you’re faced
with an important decision, and you can feel
your blood pressure rising? You’re nervous
about making the wrong choice. The issue is
an important one and you don’t want to mess
up by selecting the wrong path.
I like to say that fear is often more
than “False Evidence Appearing
Real.” It is sometimes there for a
reason, to tell us to proceed with caution.
This is true with decision-making because
our minds fall prey to many biases.
For example, noble-prize winning
economist Daniel Kahneman and his colleague
Amos Tversky discovered a mental short-cut
that we tend to take when making decisions,
which they called the “availability”
heuristic.
We don’t weigh all of our options
equally. Instead, we assign greater weight
to options that we readily think of,
assuming that if we think of them readily,
they must be more frequent. For example, if
I can easily think of red BMWs I assume that
red is one of the common BMW colors.
This is only partly true. We think of
options readily if they are dramatic or easy
to remember. A red car is easier to remember
than a grey car. I may have a neighbor and a
client with a red BMW so it’s fresh in my
mind.
As another example, if your friend had
just told you how horrible a new restaurant
is, you would probably decide not to go
there, despite reading a dozen positive
reviews. Or if someone asked you what the
leading cause of death is: accidents or
diseases, you may say they are equal or you
may say accidents (recalling all those vivid
11pm news programs), when in reality
diseases are 16 times more likely to lead to
death than accidents.
So what do we do about these mental
biases?
First, we need to be aware of them. When
making a decision, ask yourself if it’s
possible that you are being swayed by a
mental short-cut. Ask yourself, “What would
be the path of least resistance for my brain
to go down?” If a mental bias is present,
resist its influence.
Second, realize that everyone has
different biases. If a decision is an
important one, collect opinions from
different people to balance out one
another’s bias. A study by financial analyst
Paul Johnson showed that group predictions
(for who would win an Academy Award)
consistently outperform individual
predictions.
Third, use thought and memory bias to
your advantage. If, for instance, you’re a
business owner make your testimonials vivid
by filming people genuinely and
enthusiastically sharing their stories. This
will help prospective clients or customers
remember the benefits of your business. If
you get my
marketing newsletter you know that I’m
always advocating for standing out. This is
another reason why you want to stand out and
be memorable.
Can you think of a time when you or
someone you know operated on a memory bias?
If so,
share it on my blog. Or, if you have a
question about this, post it there and I’ll
be sure to answer it.
Larina Kase, PsyD, MBA is President of
Performance & Success Coaching, LLC. She
helps people reduce stress, improve
communication and speaking skills, and excel
in their careers. For more tips, visit
www.pascoaching.com.
KEYWORDS
office small talk, office gossip,
workplace gossip, workplace success,
workplace conflict, small talk at work,
negotiation strategies, reduce stress,
communication and speaking skills
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