Intelligence is not only the ability to reason; it is also the ability to find relevant material in memory and to deploy attention when needed. —Daniel Kahneman

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Your brain is an amazing thing.

Think of how a baby learns to walk.

A clear goal, experimentation, failure, feedback, and adjustment.

Your brain learns how to control dozens of muscles simultaneously and in close harmony…

And you walk.

But walking isn’t something you can figure out rationally.

If you had to control each muscle deliberately, by thinking about it, you’d still be crawling.

If you’ve ever learned a musical instrument, or watched someone learn one, you know what I mean.

When I learned to play the guitar, it took me 5-10 seconds to change my hand position.

After a few weeks, I could do it without thinking about it.

It’s the same with driving, riding a bike, brushing your teeth, or getting dressed.

Your brain automates repetitive tasks, so you don’t have to think about it.

The surprise is —> it’s the same at work.

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Your brain recognizes patterns and learns to predict the world.

How your boss acts, how to survive high pressure meetings, how to make a good presentation.

These are repetitive tasks that your brain has optimized.

You find a pattern that works for you, and you repeat it.

Even when you stop to think about it, you still rely on the fast-thinking pattern-recognition brain.

It’s what recalls information for you to make a decision.

And it’s why we have so many cognitive biases.

- Recency bias (towards what happened more recently)

- Confirmation bias (towards finding information to support what you believe)

- Anchoring bias (towards the first piece of information you hear)

- Status quo bias (towards maintaining things as they are)

These biases reflect how your brain - thinking quickly without your conscious participation - brings information to mind to inform decisions.

The best decision-makers don’t avoid these biases.

That’s not possible.

The best decision-makers are aware of these biases and work to overcome them.

Not every decision warrants that kind of deliberate thinking.

But when you face an important decision — a project proposal, an important conversation, a new job — slow down.

Look for where you are biased, and challenge yourself to think differently.

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To better decisions,

P.S. Want someone to help you or your team make better decisions? Let's talk.

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