When
making decisions, we all rely too heavily on intuition and use flawed reasoning
sometimes. But it’s possible to fight these pernicious sources of bias by
learning to spot them and using the techniques presented in this article,
gleaned from the latest research. They’ll open up your thinking about possible
outcomes, objectives, and options and lead to better choices. To broaden your
perspective on the future, the authors suggest, you can use proven tactics for
improving the accuracy of estimates and preparing for contingencies. You’ll
think more expansively about your objectives if you come up with many
possibilities before deciding what’s most important, get input from others, and
then carefully examine one goal at a time. And you’ll generate better options
if you identify several and evaluate them side by side. Don’t settle for the
first one that’s acceptable; imagine that you can’t pursue it, and you might
find an even stronger alternative. Strong emotional attachments or investments
make cognitive biases even harder to overcome. When that’s the case, use
checklists and algorithms to stay focused on the right things, and set “trip
wires” to trigger planned responses at key points in the decision-making
process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]