Are you wearing cognition blinders?

Did you know that social science research has shown that without realizing it, decision makers ignore certain critical information?

Let’s start at the beginning with the definition of cognition. It is the method of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses. So in other words cognitive blinders block us from acquiring knowledge and understanding, so that makes managers are like the rest of us.

Yes we are all flawed information processors, we all face tremendous demands on our time and must make decisions under uncertain or vague circumstances.

I believe that in a perfect world our thoughts would all be rational, logical, and unbiased. However, most of us only believe what we want to believe. I also believe at times we consider that the cheerfulness of the guests is all that matters, not the quality of the meal. By that I mean that if we believe everyone is happy there is nothing to worry about. So we go about life in a kind of a dream world. That is until one of our guests get food poisoning.

So what can we do to avoid self-induced food poisoning?

1. Managers need to seek out the key information to make sound decisions.
2. They to be aware of how information has relevance.
3. Managers need to share information with others, thereby increasing their organization’s awareness.

Does this make sense when it comes to solving problems?

When will you remove your cognition blinders?