Psychological Traps
Psychological Traps in Decision Making
ABSTRACT The purpose of this article synthesis and summary is to highlight six traps managers are susceptible to when making decisions. (Duening & Ivancevich, 2006) A decision can be defined as a conscious choice among alternatives followed by action to implement the choice. Effective decision making combines the use of knowledge, experience, creative thinking, and risk taking to move an organization forward. Managers typically find themselves making decisions every day. The choices we make can have a wide variety of outcomes. Good decisions can take individuals, teams and even companies to the next level of greatness; however a bad decision of course will do the exact opposite destroying in some cases careers and business sometimes irreparably.
ARTICLE SUMMARY The article “Hidden Traps in Decision Making” (Hammond, Kenney & Raiffa, 2006) notes that often times good or bad decisions lie not in the decision making process but rather in the mind of the decision maker. When managers examine their decision making process from a psychological stand point it becomes clearer how they came to their final conclusion. Hammond, Kenney and Raiffa identified six traps all of which could be dangerous individually as well as combined building upon one another to work against the decision maker. These psychological traps have a unique tendency to affect any level of management; however the best defense against these traps is awareness. Managers who effectively familiarize themselves with the traps will be more confident in the decisions they make, likewise the recommendations proposed by subordinates are ensured to be more reliable. Each trap has its own unique qualities. First the Anchoring trap guides you to the mindset that your first choice is the wisest to follow, hindering our ability to thoroughly evaluate other options. Secondly the Status Quo trap suggests that if it isn’t broke
ABSTRACT The purpose of this article synthesis and summary is to highlight six traps managers are susceptible to when making decisions. (Duening & Ivancevich, 2006) A decision can be defined as a conscious choice among alternatives followed by action to implement the choice. Effective decision making combines the use of knowledge, experience, creative thinking, and risk taking to move an organization forward. Managers typically find themselves making decisions every day. The choices we make can have a wide variety of outcomes. Good decisions can take individuals, teams and even companies to the next level of greatness; however a bad decision of course will do the exact opposite destroying in some cases careers and business sometimes irreparably.
ARTICLE SUMMARY The article “Hidden Traps in Decision Making” (Hammond, Kenney & Raiffa, 2006) notes that often times good or bad decisions lie not in the decision making process but rather in the mind of the decision maker. When managers examine their decision making process from a psychological stand point it becomes clearer how they came to their final conclusion. Hammond, Kenney and Raiffa identified six traps all of which could be dangerous individually as well as combined building upon one another to work against the decision maker. These psychological traps have a unique tendency to affect any level of management; however the best defense against these traps is awareness. Managers who effectively familiarize themselves with the traps will be more confident in the decisions they make, likewise the recommendations proposed by subordinates are ensured to be more reliable. Each trap has its own unique qualities. First the Anchoring trap guides you to the mindset that your first choice is the wisest to follow, hindering our ability to thoroughly evaluate other options. Secondly the Status Quo trap suggests that if it isn’t broke
References: 1. CHELST, K. (2013). The soft side of making decisions. Industrial Engineer: IE, 45(1), 35 2. Duening, T.N., & Ivancevich, J.M. (2006). Managing organizations. Principles and guidelines 3. Hammond, J.S., Kenney, R.L., & Raiffa, H. (2006). The hidden traps in decision making. Harvard Business Review, 84(1), 118-126 4. Kahneman, D., Lovallo, D., & Sibony, O. (2011). Before You Make That Big Decision.. Harvard Business Review, 89(6), 50-60.