Daryl Urbanski and Gleb Tspursky discuss the importance of using science-based strategies for effective decision making, recognizing and addressing cognitive biases in business decision-making, and implementing practical tools and techniques for overcoming conflicting perspectives and emotional blocks. They emphasize the need for emotional and social intelligence, critical thinking, and open-mindedness in decision-making, and provide strategies for effective project management, including pairing a visionary leader with a pessimist and conducting risk assessment and contingency planning.
Here are the reasons why you should listen to the full interview
- Understand how our ingrained instincts can cloud our judgment in professional decision-making situations
- Discover ways to strategically challenge and overcome our intuitive biases for better judgment
- Learn how to deal with denial and resistance, a common occurrence in professional scenarios, for productive outcomes
Resources
- Popular management books like "Thinking Fast, and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman are referenced to illustrate points, and
- Apps like Headspace are recommended to manage stress and enhance clarity of thought.
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Interview Highlights
Evaluating reality accurately, avoiding biases, and having difficult conversations with Gleb Tspursky
- Daryl Urbanski interviews Gleb Tspursky on decision making and emotional intelligence.
- Gleb Tspursky shares insights from his new book, The Truth Seekers Handbook.
- Gleb Tspursky discusses his book "The Truth Seeker's Handbook" and its focus on evaluating reality accurately to make good decisions.
- Daryl Urbanski asks Gleb Tspursky about cognitive biases and patterns in perception, such as confirmation bias and attentional bias, and how to address them.
Cognitive biases and their impact on decision-making in the modern world
- Gleb Tspursky explains why we have cognitive biases: our brains are not adapted to modern world.
- Cash patterns are typical ways of thinking that we have learned from childhood and evolution, related to tribalism.
- Gleb Tspursky discusses how childhood experiences and cultural norms can shape our behavior and decision-making in adulthood.
- Lack of emotional intelligence training can hinder career growth for those unaware of its importance.
How to overcome biases in decision-making, particularly in hiring and business relationships
- Daryl Urbanski and Gleb Tspursky discuss the importance of emotional and social intelligence in business environments.
- Gleb Tspursky provides insights on how to address biases in hiring situations through emotional and social intelligence.
- Trusting gut intuitions in new relationships can lead to errors, as they are not yet part of our tribe.
- Common biases include the halo effect (overestimating based on one trait) and horns effect (underestimating due to negative traits).
- Gleb Tspursky discusses the problem of unconscious bias in hiring and decision-making, and how using numbers can help offset gut reactions that lead to unfair decisions.
- Gleb Tspursky suggests giving bonus points to candidates who are different from the decision-maker, and subtracting points for those who are similar, to correct for unconscious biases.
Hiring biases and coping mechanisms for difficult work scenarios
- Daryl Urbanski shares his hiring process, including ranking criteria and conducting group interviews.
- Urbanski highlights the importance of diversity in a team and recognizes unconscious biases in decision-making.
- Daryl Urbanski and Gleb discuss the importance of evaluating people based on objective criteria rather than personal biases.
- Daryl Urbanski and Gleb provide strategies for dealing with difficult situations involving conflicting perspectives, such as practicing collaborative truth-seeking or maintaining confidence in one's own assessment.
How to address denialism in organizations
- CEOs often deny reality, leading to poor performance and eventual firing.
- Engineers resist selling due to emotional blocks, such as fear of appearing weak.
- Gleb outlines a strategy for CEOs to improve their leadership, including emotions, goals, report information, and positive reinforcement.
- Gleb Tspursky provides examples from his consulting practice of how to approach middle managers who are denying reality and offers tips for avoiding condescension.
Addressing a team member's tendency to start many projects without finishing them
- Daryl Urbanski discusses a client's tendency to start new projects without finishing them.
- Gleb identifies a team member's optimistic but half-baked ideas, pairs them with pessimists for improvement.
Long-term goal planning and how to avoid planning fallacy using pre-mortem technique
- Daryl Urbanski seeks to position himself as a visionary leader, trusting the team to show him how projects align with goals.
- Gleb encourages Daryl to build trust, showcasing how projects tie to shared goals, while acknowledging resource limitations.
- Planning fallacy is a common issue in long-term goal planning, where people underestimate the time and resources needed for unexpected contingencies.
- Pre mortem strategy helps address planning fallacy by imagining project failure and addressing potential reasons for it.
Decision-making, risk assessment, and project management
- Daryl Urbanski emphasizes the importance of anticipating potential project failures and developing contingency plans.
- Gleb highlights the psychological bias of survivorship bias, where we only see successful outcomes and ignore failures.
- Gleb Tspursky emphasizes the importance of acknowledging cognitive biases in decision-making.
- Daryl Urbanski agrees and adds that these tools can be applied to various situations, including hiring and communication.
Overcoming mental biases and making rational decisions in business
- Daryl Urbanski and Gleb discuss the importance of recognizing when you're in a situation where you're being manipulated or influenced, and how to differentiate between your emotional "elephant" and rational "rider."
- Strategies for overcoming mental biases and making rational decisions in the face of scarcity or fear mindsets are shared, including recognizing when someone is trying to create a "buyer frenzy" and how to stay in control of your emotions and decision-making.
- Daryl Urbanski and Gleb discuss the "Truth Seekers Handbook," a science-based guide for personal and professional growth.
- Gleb shares practical tips and actionable advice for implementing the book's concepts in one's life and business.