Tuesday, March 21, 2006

The right decision

"Think decision-making is about gut feel? Think again. It’s all in the mind..

The way the human brain works can sabotage our decisions.

Fifty years of research has revealed we use unconscious routines known as heuristics to cope with the complexity inherent in most decisions. These serve us well in most situations.

In judging distance, for example, our minds frequently rely on a heuristic that equates clarity with proximity. Yet, like most heuristics, it is not foolproof. On hazy days, our eyes will trick our minds into thinking things are more distant than they actually are.

Researchers have identified a series of such flaws in the way we think when making decisions..."

The AFR article goes on to explain:
- The anchoring trap
- The status quo trap
- The sunk cost trap
- The evidence trap
- The framing trap and
- The forecasting traps

W: http://www.afrboss.com.au/magarticle.asp?doc_id=25548&rgid=2