Sharing what I have learned from what I have read: A blog by Joe Abittan
My last post was about negative error cultures and the harm they can create. Today is about the flip side, positive error cultures and how they can help encourage innovation, channel creativity, and help people learn to improve their decision-making. "On the other end of the spectrum," writes Gerd Gigerenzer in Risk Savvy, "are positive … Continue reading Positive Error Cultures
No matter how smart, observant, and rational we are, we will never have perfect information for all of the choices we make in our lives. There will always be decisions that we have to make based on a limited set of information, and when that happens, there will be a risk that we won't make … Continue reading Negative Error Cultures
"The idea of denominator neglect helps explain why different ways of communicating risks vary so much in their effects," writes Daniel Kahneman in Thinking Fast and Slow. One thing we have seen in 2020 is how difficult it is to communicate and understand risk. Thinking about risk requires thinking statistically, and thinking statistically doesn't … Continue reading Denominator Neglect
One of the successes of System 1, the name Daniel Kahneman uses to describe our quick, intuitive part of the brain in his book Thinking Fast and Slow, is recognizing emotions in people's faces. We don't need much time to study someone's face to recognize that they are happy, scared, or angry. We don't even … Continue reading Judging Faces
"Because System 1 operates automatically and cannot be turned off at will, errors of intuitive thought are often difficult to prevent," writes Daniel Kahneman in Thinking Fast and Slow. System 1 is how Kahneman describes the intuitive, quick reacting part of our brain that continually scans the environment and filters information going to System 2, … Continue reading Recognize Situations Where Mistakes Are Common
Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote about the importance of turning inward and honestly judging our own character in a way that is intimate and helped us move our lives forward in a constructive manner. Throughout his book Meditations he wrote of the importance of being self-aware, and provided notes about being socially responsible by becoming more intentional … Continue reading Recognizing Our Own Shortcomings
In his writing Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius reflected the ideas of stoicism and the lessons the philosophy taught him throughout his life. He valued the power of the rational mind, and was constantly looking for ways to better understand his own faculties so that he could better control his mental state and his perception of the … Continue reading Living Without Error
Fred Kiel gives a few examples of what it means to be a great leader for a company in his book, Return on Character, where he focuses on the ties between strong moral values, success, and leadership. One of the examples he gives of what it means to be a leader who focuses on ethical … Continue reading Owning Our Mistakes
In James Harmon’s book, Take My Advice, Harmon shares a letter written by Arthur Nersesian in which Nersesian writes, “Advice is important, but no amount of it will keep you from occasionally making a bad move.” He explains that what will happen as we grow is that we will have good and bad luck, and that … Continue reading Allowing Mistakes
Bob Schacochis continues in his letter to James Harmon published in Harmon’s book Take My Advice to explain a lesson he learned about making and correcting mistakes. As a young college student working as a carpenter Schacochis learned a lesson in excellence when his work was corrected by a carpenter he was shadowing. Schacochis had put something together and … Continue reading Correcting Mistakes Continued