Decision Making
On Traps, Biases, and Decision Quality Controls
Decisions are the coin of the realm in every organization. Missed opportunities derive from a decision someone made, or failed to make. Bad decisions can damage a business, sometimes irreparably. Psychological Traps are particularly dangerous in this respect, as they can undermine everything from product development to acquisition to planing and strategy. While no one can free his or her mind of these flaws, anyone can follow the lead of a pilot and learn to understand these traps.
When biases distort reasoning, awareness of them does little to improve business decisions. So does talk alone not eliminate them. The challenge of avoiding biases lies in the question of why individuals are incapable of recognizing their own ones. However, the fact that individuals are not aware of their own biases does not mean that they cannot be reduced on the organizational level. We may not be able to control our own intuition fully, but we can apply rational thought to detect others´ faulty thoughts and improve their understanding.
In recent years bad corporate and political decisions have skyrocketed despite increased Zivilisation. How is that possible? First, because decisions have been perceived as the action of individuals - mostly senior executives. And the general perception of decision making widely adheres to the misconception of "Information goes in - decisions come out!" ... and God knows what happens in between.
Second, because of the former, no one thought of implementing systematic decision approaches. Yet, there is just as much importance to improve decision making in organizations as to improve any other process.
Understanding the consequences that can occur from this inaction we committed ourselves to offer and execute comprehensive decision quality controls.
The mechanics of the decision quality measurement we apply strictly separates the individuals to whom this class of measurement is applied from the party making the recommendations.
Beyond quality control measurements new norms of behaviors, such as incorporating meetings and discussions on how to de-bias decisions, can support the recognition of these predispositions. The achievement of de-biasing constitutes great efforts and, in some companies, a profound cultural change.