Category: TFS Project
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TFS: How to Jump to a Better Conclusion
As Daniel Kahneman explains in Thinking, Fast and Slow, our brain is "a machine for jumping to conclusions." We derive many benefits from this fact. "Snap judgments are usually reliable and always efficient." We need to understand the hazards, and when we feel the urge to jump, try to PAUSE. When the situation is unfamiliar,…
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TFS: Running from the threat of cognitive ease
If you enjoy being creative, as I do, then you seek out a safe, comfortable environment where your creativity can thrive. But when you're in that environment, you are also at your most gullible. I used to have a Joan Rivers quote on my wall that said "Run scared… and they never catch you." When…
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TFS: Why we have to keep questioning what we ‘understand’
We are really saved from ourselves by our curiosity. If you think you understand something, it's time to learn more about it. Because the mind is an associative machine, and it takes whatever you've learned so far and constructs a story that make sense. Whether or not you have really dug deep and learned what…
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TFS: Harnessing our self control
Our rationality, our motivation to avoid thinking errors, is limited by the availability of self control. And self control is a finite resource, as is our attention. The more of our attention that's directed to self control, the less energy we have available for deliberate thought. A triumph of self control is followed by a…
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Why we have to hang onto the pessimists
Daniel Kahneman says his book Thinking Fast and Slow is not prescriptive, but plenty of us are trying to figure out how to improve our decision making since we read the book. In this excellent interview, Kahneman is asked how companies can apply what he's learned. He says one of the most important things a…
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TFS: Attention to Effort
According to Daniel Kahneman in Thinking Fast and Slow, the two systems in our brain share the use of our attention, but are polar opposites when it comes to using effort. Using System 2 means more than slowing down, it means 'thinking harder.' Kahneman describes System 2 as lazy, which means it has to be…
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TFS: How to avoid second-rate decisions
As I was reading Thinking Fast and Slow, my mind spun back to many times I've made bad decisions. In my profession, marketing, every big decision must deal with both complexity and uncertainty. And yet we're make so many decisions based on a hunch, a gut feeling, or a reflex. Our decisions are unfairly influenced…
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Taking a few months to practice Thinking Slow
I like to think. Seriously, it's one of my 'Stengthsfinder' strengths–which means I'm supposed to use it and develop it. But that's not why I'm launching this project, a multi-month discussion of Daniel Kahneman's Thinking Fast and Slow (to be known here as TFS). For me, TFS's biggest revelation was why the marketing profession is…