Decision Making

Three Fallacies of Leadership

Wrede, KW Cognitive Biases, Critical Thinking, Decision Making, Leadership, Leadership Principles, Perception, Uncategorized , , ,

To paraphrase the old saying, “LeadershipFalse 1 2 3 is like the weather – everyone talks about it, but no one does anything about it.” People seem to accept leadership, good or bad, as a cosmic fate that simply happens. If we benefit, great. If we suffer from inadequate leadership, it is perceived as bad fortune and unavoidable.

I do not accept those premises.  Unlike the weather, we can do something about leadership

Leadership development is one of the single most important strategic activities undertaken by business entities throughout the world. To ignore the need for excellent leadership practices is an invitation to catastrophe.

Here is what the science says:

  • Studies show that 50% of all businesses that fail, fail due to bad leadership
  • Effective leadership can increase net margins 1% – 3%

I think there are three main fallacies that directly contribute to poor leadership development:

Fallacy one – “Real” leaders have charisma. Continue reading →

Ice Station Zebra and the Human Eye

Wrede, KW Critical Thinking, Decision Making, Leadership Development, Perception , ,

The color green is important here.Night Shot with IR lamp, 04

If you are alive today and watched any kind of television in the last 20 years you’ve seen the green screen of night vision recording: war reporting, “ghost hunters”, traffic helicopters, numerous movies. The pictures are instantly recognizable as having mediocre resolution, but clear enough to see the creepy reflection of light from retinas of the filmed subjects.

The color red is important here.

One of my favorite action movies growing up was “Ice Station Zebra”, a Cold War espionage thriller based on the 1963 book by Alistair MacLean.

One of the scenes that stuck with me was when the crew made preparation for night watch on the conning tower bridge. Before the watch crew went on duty, everyone was wearing red-tinted goggles to protect their night vision. The memory is vivid and it was reinforced through to adulthood: red flashlight filters and maps designed to be readable at night with a red filter (quick explanation: night viewable maps have features depicted in red ink, the assumption is that everyone will use red filters at night and the red ink becomes near invisible when viewed with red light).

Spies, submarines, arctic setting, Super Panavision 70, no kissing… woooohoooo!  The perfect Saturday afternoon movie fare for a kid. (It is rumored that Howard Hughes watched the movie 150 times on a continuous loop, if it was good enough for Howard… well, I digress.) Continue reading →

Recommendation “Rationally Speaking Podcast”

Wrede, KW Critical Thinking, Decision Making, Leadership, Leadership Development , , ,

I like to sometimes recommend resources that I enjoyed which offer a broader range, more insight, and greater detail than I can possibly cover in 1000 words.  More importantly, I like to recommend resources that have greatly improved my decision making skills.

I have mentioned before that decision making is one of the important topics covered in many leadership courses: the decision cycle, decision methods, etc.  I have yet to come across critical thinking as it applies to decision making.  Specifically, how information (evidence) is gathered and weighed; and if decisions are made in a rational and unbiased manner.

I gladly introduce the podcast “Rationally Speaking”, the official podcast of the New York City Skeptics.

The podcast focuses on rational thought, philosophy, science, and the nonsense that often claims to be the former three.  The topics can be sometimes a bit esoteric, but to become good at something, you have work at a level above your current capability.

“Rationally Speaking” is the bi-weekly podcast of New York City Skeptics. Join hosts Massimo Pigliucci and Julia Galef as they explore the borderlands between reason and nonsense, likely and unlikely, and science and pseudoscience. Any topic is fair game as long as we can bring reason to bear upon it, with both a skeptical eye and a good dose of humor!”

Continue reading →