The Employee Experience Advantage

CHAPTER 14System 1 versus System 2 Experiences

Daniel Kahneman is one of the world's most renowned psychologists, winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, and author of the best‐selling book Thinking, Fast and Slow. In his book he describes two types of modes of thought, System 1 and System 2. System 1 thinking is very fast, is instinctive, and doesn't require much focus or attention. It's essentially your brain on autopilot. For example, if I were to ask you, “1 + 1 = ?” you would immediately know the answer. System 2 thinking, on the other hand, is more purposeful, slower, and more deliberate. It's something that requires us to take a step back to process.

As an example consider the following riddle. A bat and a ball costs $1.10. The bat costs $1 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost? The immediate response that most people jump to is 10 cents because $1 plus $0.10 is equal to $1.10, right? But if you take a step back, you will realize that if the ball costs $0.10 and the bat costs $1 more than the ball, then the bat must cost $1.10. However, if you add those two numbers together ($1.10 for the bat and $0.10), then you get $1.20, which is not the correct answer. Only after adding a little bit of brainpower and conscious thought will you be able to figure out that the correct answer is the ball must cost $0.05. This means the bat costs $1.05, and when you add these two numbers together, you get $1.10.

Although Dr. Kahneman explored decision‐making and ...