Let’s do a thought experiment: Does democracy work in brain surgery? If you are a brain surgeon, would you allow anyone in your team to make key decisions when you’re operating on a patient? Probably not. If you want to […]
Decision making
Early 2021, you would find yourself in a roller coaster if you owned stock of a small company called GameStop: A buying frenzy occurred—driven by thousands of Reddit users—and the stock increased by more than 1000% within two weeks. The objective of […]
In the 1958 movie ‘The Blob’ an amoeba-like and formless alien life-form set out to absorb and destroy the inhabitants of a small Pennsylvanian village. Though the movie was a work of fiction, I have come across many blobs […]
Over 99% of our decisions in life won’t matter: The choice of your breakfast cereal, the color of your car, and which socks you wear today, are probably immaterial to your life in the long run. It therefore makes sense […]
During the Covid pandemic, the heated discussion about the safety of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccin has made it clear that humans have trouble understanding very small, or very big numbers. We overestimate very small probabilities and underestimate very big probabilities. […]
Scientists have done experiments to determine if you should run instead of walk when it’s raining. They concluded that you will only become 10% less wet when running. In the end it’s a waste of effort. In many areas of […]
Have you ever seen a Hello Kitty traffic cone? It’s fascinating: The Japanese police discovered that Hello Kitty traffic cones reduce the average speed of drivers at road construction sites. Clearly, these cute cones invoke peaceful feelings. This is a great example […]
Would you cross a river which has an average depth of 1.5 meters (5 feet)? Probably not. Average is meaningless in this case. What matters is the maximum depth. The human mind has a good intuitive grasp of statistics. Yet, it suffers from two specific […]
Contrary to popular belief, the reason for anxiety and stress is not that we have too much to do. The actual reason is the feeling of being out of control. I know several high performance individuals, who have a lot on […]
When was the last time you heard someone say: “I don’t want to be rude, but…” Usually followed by something which is in fact very rude. In my work with leaders and professionals I come across this ugly language gambit […]
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