fewer mistakes. less time lost. better decisions.
with behavioral economics & managerial decision science.
meta-decision guides
Some 70 years ago, the influential educator Jacob Getzels made a key observation: The problems we are trained on in school are often quite different from the ones we encounter in real life.
In school, problems tend to present themselves in a nice orderly manner, clearly defined; they’re accompanied by many similar examples, all organized at the end of the appropriate chapter.
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In the real world, though, the problems we face are messier. There's not always just one correct answer, or a clear path to figuring it out; the underlying causes of the problem may be complex, and we have to think about potential knock-on effects when brainstorming a solution.
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The formal education system has not changed much since Getzels made his observation. Not yet. But we can do better.
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What we know now from research at the intersection of management and behavioral science is that:
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- Decision-making itself is actually a learned skill. It takes much more than a spreadsheet to make a good decision in real life.
- There is an irrational side to our thinking — one that is, thankfully, largely predictable and open to taming.
- In our modern society, where we have access to more information and more choices than ever before, sound decision-making has become even more vital — and more difficult.
- As such, most of us have big gaps in how we make decisions during most of our adult lives.
- These gaps are often filled by misconceptions that hold us back from excelling at the workplace and beyond.
Here are some guides we have put together that help synthesize existing knowledge for avoiding costly mistakes:
Based on academic research on decision-making and industry findings, here are 10 common decision-making errors that we fall prey to at work, and some strategies we can use to get around them.
About 40% of premature deaths in developed economies are the result of behaviors that we can change. Daily, seemingly small decisions about smoking, eating, exercising, drinking. Meaning they are preventable. This guide looks into how behavioral science can help individuals, businesses and governments all over the world to change unhealthy habits.
The power of behavioral science illustrated through case studies from around the world.
Brainstorming has been popular since the early 1950s but it rarely works as well as expected. Why and what to do instead? ​ This guide shows you 4 modern brainstorming techniques that actually work in finding creative, better solutions.