What do you do if your logical reasoning is hindered by cognitive biases?

Recognizing cognitive biases requires self-awareness and a willingness to critically evaluate your thoughts and actions. Start by familiarizing yourself with common biases such as confirmation bias, availability heuristic, and anchoring bias. Reflect on past decisions and try to identify instances where biases may have influenced your reasoning. Pay attention to patterns in your thinking and behavior, and be open to feedback from others who may observe biases that you haven't noticed. As your coach, I would encourage you to keep a journal where you document your decision-making process and reflect on any biases that may have influenced your choices. This practice can help you become more mindful of your thought patterns.

Great leaders embrace humility and curiosity, avoiding subjective experiences and preconceived notions. True leadership is not about being the most knowledgeable person in the room, but about empathy, considering other viewpoints, acknowledging blind spots, and creating a safe environment for feedback.

- Implement Red-Team Thinking: Assign someone (or yourself) the role of a "red team" to critically examine and challenge your decisions. This can reveal potential blind spots and improve the robustness of your choices.

Feedback from trusted colleagues, mentors, and coaches is invaluable in addressing cognitive biases. Actively seek out diverse perspectives on your decisions and solicit feedback on your reasoning process. Be open to constructive criticism and resist the urge to dismiss feedback that challenges your assumptions. As your coach, I would facilitate feedback sessions where you can discuss specific decisions and explore alternative viewpoints. Encourage a culture of psychological safety within your team, where individuals feel comfortable sharing honest feedback without fear of judgment. By incorporating multiple perspectives into your decision-making process, you can mitigate the influence of cognitive biases and make more informed choices.

Leaders who operate within their limited perspectives and experiences remain trapped by their biases and blind spots. However, adopting an infinite mindset allows us to overcome these limitations by setting aside our egos and focusing on the needs of those we lead. This helps us be open to new perspectives and honest opinions that are vital for growth. To be true leaders, we must discover our deeper "why". We need to ask ourselves if we are focused on bringing out the best in others or just on protecting our pride. An infinite mindset means being open to diverse perspectives, even when they challenge us, so we can expand our awareness and make better decisions for everyone involved.

- Implement System 2 (Daniel Kahneman's): Slow, deliberate, and analytical thinking. It requires conscious effort, dealing with complex problems and calculations.

As a coach, I would encourage to adopt mindfulness practices such as meditation and deep breathing exercises to cultivate a sense of presence and clarity. Incorporate structured decision-making frameworks, such as the Six Thinking Hats method or Devil's Advocate approach, to systematically analyze decisions from multiple angles. By slowing down and approaching decisions with intentionality, you can mitigate the influence of cognitive biases and improve the quality of your reasoning. For meditation itself one must try and get a practitioner to get initiated.

Leaders with a finite mindset prioritize short-term results, proving themselves right, and relying on biased gut reactions. Great leaders, however, have an infinite mindset and aim to leave a legacy by empowering others. Rushing to judgment based on preconceived notions hinders our ability to create a safe environment for our teams to offer feedback that challenges our thinking.

Diversifying thinking also requires creating an inclusive environment where all voices are valued and heard. Encourage open dialogue and debate within your team, where individuals feel comfortable expressing dissenting opinions and challenging the status quo.Diversifying thinking also promotes cognitive flexibility, the ability to adapt your thinking in response to new information or changing circumstances. By engaging with individuals from diverse backgrounds, experiences, and expertise, you can gain new insights and challenge your existing assumptions. This expanded perspective allows you to consider a broader range of possibilities and make more well-rounded decisions.

- Diversify Information Sources: Consume information from various sources, including those that challenge your existing views. This can reduce the impact of the availability heuristic. - Practice Bayesian Thinking: Embrace Bayesian thinking by updating your beliefs based on new information. This can help counteract the effects of the base-rate fallacy.

If cognitive biases hinder logical reasoning, implement decision-making structures to standardize choices and reduce bias impact. Employ checklists, predefined criteria, and set processes for evaluating alternatives. By using a consistent framework, the influence of personal biases on decision-making is minimized, leading to more reliable and objective outcomes.

- Establish Decision Criteria: Clearly define decision criteria before evaluating alternatives. The more quantitative the better. This helps avoid being swayed by irrelevant factors and reduces the impact of biases like anchoring. - Balanced Decision-Making: Effective decision-making often involves a balance between both systems. Rapid, intuitive decisions from System 1 can be complemented by the deliberate, analytical thinking of System 2. - Cognitive Efficiency: Knowing when to rely on each system optimizes cognitive efficiency. Using System 1 for routine tasks frees up mental resources for more demanding cognitive endeavours that require System 2.

- Adaptability: The ability to switch between thinking systems enables adaptability. Recognizing when a situation calls for intuition and when it requires careful analysis is a key aspect of adaptability.

- Availability Bias: People tend to rely on information that is readily available to them, often overestimating the importance of recent or vivid events. - Anchoring Bias: Individuals anchor their decisions based on the first piece of information encountered, even if it's irrelevant or arbitrary. - Confirmation Bias: The tendency to search for, interpret, and remember information in a way that confirms one's pre-existing beliefs.