Think Fast! (Or Maybe Don't)

  Decision Making   Leadership   ProjectsAtWork  

You've probably heard about “paralysis by analysis” but relying on gut instinct to solve problems and make decisions also lead projects astray. Understanding the psychology of decision biases can help us become better decision-makers and project leaders. Ultimately, we must incorporate a balanced approach that uses both intuition and analysis.

For the past 25 years I have been working at various jobs in the software industry. It can be a very frustrating industry — by some estimates up to 70 percent of software projects fail to be completed on time, with the expected features. And the reasons for software project failure can often be pinpointed to decision biases. 

The human mind has two main ways of making decisions, which have been labeled by the psychology community as System 1 and System 2. System 1 is an intuitive system that relies on instinct and past experience to quickly make decisions. It requires little effort and works on an unconscious level. System 2 is a slower, more analytic way of making decisions that looks at the details of a problem, makes calculations and weighs alternative to determine a result. It requires a concerted conscious effort.

The best way to illustrate the difference between these two systems is a couple of math problems. If I ask you to solve the equations “2 + 2”, you immediately answer “4” without …

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