According to decision making expert Gary Klein;
“managers and staff engaged in enterprises based on traditional business models are finding it increasingly difficult to make decision likely to protect them from market disruption…we are entering a world of increasing and accelerated disruption of markets and business models…pitted against new technologies, established knowledge and proven ways of making decisions are less and less reliable”.
As a result, Klein says that two of the biggest challenges facing modern organisations is the need for the rapid creation of new insights and to accelerate professional development and knowledge transfer within the business in order to stay on top of change.
However, insights cannot be created from data alone – insight is a combination of information and interpretation. And, interpretation is influenced by both context and personal factors. The context can be managed directly by ensuring that all critical decision-making information is presented within other relevant data, within in the context in which the decision is to be made. Overcoming personal bias is more difficult.
Reality is not real – it is merely a construct in the minds of individuals. As legal testimony has proven, it is quite possible for six different people to provide six different ‘accurate’ accounts of an event. Values, beliefs and past experiences are attached to the logical-memory framework in our brain. When a new event or decision is presented to us, the brain searches this framework for similar patterns, upon which to process information. This is where individual bias can filter the ‘reality’ upon which we make our decisions. It surfaces as ‘assumptions’ within our so-called insight.
We can’t stop this process, but we can become aware of our biases, and how they impact our decisions. This self-awareness is a key part of emotional intelligence. And validating assumptions is the critical missing step, in both decision making and strategy setting.
Insight Mastery is shortly to launch its revolutionary EQ Leadership program – an online coaching program for leaders. More on this coming up!
Author: Gail La Grouw. Insight Mastery Program Director, and Strategic Performance Consultant for Coded Vision Ltd.
