Streetlights and Shadows

Common Beliefs About Decisions

The human eye sees in light and shadow, but uses different systems for daylight and darkness. In daytime, “cone cells” take in a lot of light, and you see the world in detail. When night falls, “rod cells,” which are more sensitive to faint light but poor at picking up details, take over. You need both systems to see well. Vision functions as an analogy for decision making. Approach decision making one way when the situation is well-known and clearly defined, and another way in unknown or ambiguous circumstances.

Most common beliefs about decision making work in “bright and clear conditions.” People don’t know how to respond to more opaque situations, and most guidelines interfere with complex problem solving. Familiar rules of thumb don’t apply; an emphasis on directives and formal procedures can be limiting or even dangerous. A majority of the leaders and professionals surveyed supported the following incorrect beliefs about making decisions:

• If you teach people a specific procedure, they perform assigned tasks better – Routine tasks evolve over time, but published procedures usually stay frozen. Procedures are abstract...