How information overload affecting decision making

We are living in times, when we have access to a staggering amount of information at our fingertips.

While at the outset this seems like a blessing, my own experience and lot of studies have revealed, when it comes to making decisions or influencing others to make decisions, having too much of information can be a curse and problematic.

So, if you are a business leader aiming to drive change at work, or make changes at personal level, no doubt there is some amount of information necessary to start the journey. But beyond a certain level, the very information we gather can become counter productive!

Instead of helping in making decisions, the newer information we collect actually slows down our thinking and leads us to what is commonly said analysis paralysis!

Why does this happen? In this edition of newsletter, lets explore the same from behavioural and neuroscience insights of how information overload affecting our key functionality of brain, ie decision making.

The Paradox of Information Overload

Animals have very small cognitive neuro circuitry that make them to absorb only small amount of information, process and make quick decisions. For example, when ever a mother turkey hears a cheep-cheep, click, run, out rolls the proper maternal behaviour in a mechanical fashion, that conserves much of the limited brain power for dealing with other situations and choice she must face.

The human brain though has far better cognitive ability, and can process lot more information than any animals, we do have capacity limitations. To make our life efficient and conserve energy, our brain also sometimes rely on automatic decisions.

One such situation is when we are confronted with information overload. Our ability to process information is limited because we information to knowledge demands energy and loads the system.

Any information must be processed, accessed, absorbed, comprehended , integrated and retained and all this demands cognitive capacity.

Information doesn't translate directly into knowledge.. Robert Cialdini

When information is abundant, it becomes increasingly difficult to separate the signal from the noise, leading to what is called decision fatigue and often termed analysis paralysis.

Our brain can also compared to any physical system. When input exceeds the capacity, it is natural for the performance to go down. But unlike physical systems, human mind has a way to address this by what is called switch to short cuts to make decisions!

The Impact on Decision-Making

Excessive information availability has made us to adjust to many things and one fundamental adjustment has happened in the way we make decisions.

Any decisions has outcomes that is towards making a decision or being in status quo/failing to make a decision.

To avoid being in status, most of the decisions we want to do it in thoughtful way with careful analysis. But in today's busy lives many of us are leading and with too much of information overload, a well thought out and careful analysis isn't that conducive for us.

So our brain have adopted to more and more to another means, a shortcut approach. In this approach, the decision to say YES or NO (comply, believe or buy) is made on the basis of single, usually reliable piece of information.

The most reliable and most popular such single triggers for compliance can be commitments, opportunities for reciprocation, social proof (aka, follow others behaviours), feelings of liking or unity, and rely on authority or scarcity of information.

For example if your job is to evaluate multiple proposals and decide the best suppliers for various needs of company, the reliable option is to dedicate time and resource to evaluate in detail each proposal.

But studies have shown that most business leaders because of too much information load, hectic schedule they have, choose to adopt a time saving approach by relying on existing relationship, authority, and other shortcuts.

Or consider, more general situations such as buying a TV. After filtering initial parameters like location, price, brand, we start relying on the short cut such as social proof of reviews, friends recommendations to make the decision.

Because our mind is habit machine, with increasing cognitive overload in our society, the prevalence of shortcut decisio-making is likely to increase proporitionately.

Now the shortcut way to arrive at decision are indeed essential to save energy and they do work in out favour most times.

And anyone who is in the job to get compliance from others must be aware of these shortcuts so one can infuse their requests by using the levers of influence .

At the same time, these influence levers are also available at dispense with people who want to take undue advantage and that is why we see more and more cyber scams, unethical advertisings to get people comply.

Incremental Change: The Strategy of Top Influencers

Top influencers and successful business leaders understand the value of influence levers and one of the most effective is using incremental change or committments.

Rather than proving too much of information, they focus on sharing limited information to making small, manageable adjustments over time.

This approach has several benefits:

1. Reduced Overwhelm: Smaller changes are easier to manage and less likely to cause overwhelm for both leaders and their teams.
2. Increased Flexibility: Incremental changes allow for adjustments based on new information as it becomes available, making the process more adaptable and responsive to evolving circumstances.
3. Enhanced Learning: By moving slowly and observing the impact of each change, leaders can gather more practical insights and fine-tune their strategies.

The Timing of Information

One of the key advantages of moving incrementally is the natural accumulation of information over time. As more data becomes available, leaders can make better-informed decisions.

For instance, a year from now, we will have answers to questions that are currently unknown. In two years, we will know even more.

This ongoing process of information gathering allows leaders to make more accurate and effective decisions without the need for exhaustive research upfront.

Practical Steps to drive behaviour change

1. Set Clear Priorities: Determine the most critical pieces of information needed to make initial decisions and focus on those. Avoid getting bogged down in less relevant details.
2. Implement Gradually: Break down large initiatives into smaller, more manageable steps. This not only reduces the burden of decision-making but also allows for continuous learning and adjustment.
3. Stay Informed: Keep abreast of new information as it becomes available. Use this to refine and improve ongoing strategies rather than delaying decisions until all possible data is collected.
4. Encourage Feedback: Create a culture of open communication where team members can provide insights and feedback. This helps in identifying any issues early and making necessary adjustments.
5. Embrace Flexibility: Be willing to adapt and change course as new information and insights emerge. Flexibility is key to navigating the ever-evolving landscape of business.

Conclusion

In today's information-rich world, the challenge for anyone who is driving change at organisation level or personal level is not to gather more data but to use the information one has effectively.

By embracing incremental change and making timely decisions based on the best available information, we can drive progress and create a culture of continuous improvement.

Remember, the goal is not to be paralyzed by information but to use it as a tool for informed, thoughtful decision-making but also adjust to human cognition that prefers shortcuts approach to make decision.

By adopting these strategies, one can avoid the pitfalls of information overload and lead changes more successfully

That is it for this edition and if you found this article interesting do share to others who may benefit and also leave a comment for me!

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