CASoft Blog

In order to think effectively, one needs to avoid rules of thumb and short-cuts.

Heuristics for effective thinking:

• Availability heuristics: Recall most vivid memories
• Representiveness heuristics: Judge something with something else it looks like
• Anchoring heuristics: Judge something with its distance from the anchor

Thinking traps:

• Selective perseption
• Contrast effect
• Rationalisation effect

Short cuts:

• Cognitive laziness => Need to gather more information, concrete facts and figures, short-term and long-term consequences.

Biases and Assumptions:

• Consistency bias => Examine your motives regarding the problem
• Confirmation bias => List possible causes of past outcomes. Purposefully focus on contradictory evidence. Seek input from impartial 3rd party
• Hindsight bias
• Attribution biases (self-serving bias, egocentric bias or fundamental attribution error)

Problem Solving Mindsets:

• Apathetic mindset
• Adaptive mindset
• Analitical mindset

Decision making styles:

• Despote
• Judge
• Waffler
• Safety blanket

Obtain a wide range of experiences and maintain a learning log.