Smart Choices

CHAPTER 10

Psychological Traps

THIS WHOLE BOOK HAS BEEN ABOUT how to think systematically about tough, important decisions. By now you’re much better prepared to identify and avoid the eight most common and most serious errors in decision making:

•   Working on the wrong problem

•   Failing to identify your key objectives

•   Failing to develop a range of good, creative alternatives

•   Overlooking crucial consequences of your alternatives

•   Giving inadequate thought to tradeoffs

•   Disregarding uncertainty

•   Failing to account for your risk tolerance

•   Failing to plan ahead when decisions are linked over time

But, in addition to these process mistakes, there’s an entirely different category of errors that can undermine even the most ...