Super Deciders
by Stefan Brusoni, Claudio Feser, Karolin Frankenberger, Daniella Laureiro-Martinez
Chapter 13Preparing to Be Wrong
Claudio Feser, Daniella Laureiro-Martinez, and Stefano Brusoni
To know thyself is the beginning of all wisdom.
—Aristotle
As Isabelle was reflecting on how to address the situation, she remembered Eve's comment about cognitive-behavioral inclinations being gifts, the secret sauce when making tough decisions. She remembered the second note that Eve had shared with her. She remembered reading it and wondered whether there could be some help in there.
She pulled it out of her files and started reading it anew.
To: Isabelle
From: Eve
Subject: note 2 – Know Thyself
Dear Isabelle,
As promised, here comes my second note, as we didn't have time to discuss cognitive and behavioral inclinations in detail last week.
Many of our decisions to optimize the exploit-explore balance are driven by cognitive-behavioral inclinations. Some people may value tradition; they might be conservative, conscientious, and risk-averse, and therefore favor exploitation when optimizing the exploit-explore balance. Others may be more open-minded, curious, and risk-oriented, and they might favor exploration.
Everyone's cognitive-behavioral inclinations consist of a combination of cognitive and behavioral strategies that are determined genetically or developed mostly in early childhood. They are largely unconscious (Kets de Vries, 2006).
In my research, I use three lenses to unearth and better understand these cognitive-behavioral inclinations: personality, values, and reactive ...