Can Optimists and Pessimists Collaborate Effectively? (Wise Decision Maker Guide 32)

Greetings Decision maker,

How often do conflicts occur in your organization because someone proposes ill-considered or insufficiently thought-out ideas? How about because someone opposes innovative, out-of-the-box ideas?

If you have either problem, you might be plagued by two very common cognitive biases, the optimism bias or the pessimism bias. The optimism bias describes the many people who tend to make overly positive assessments of future risks and rewards, while the pessimism bias refers to those who make excessively negative assessments. These mental blindspots are two out of over one hundred dangerous judgment errors that result from how our brains are wired, what scholars in cognitive neuroscience and behavioral economics like myself call cognitive biases.

These problems can lead to a great deal of internal turmoil. Optimists may resent pessimists as nay-sayers who never allow good ideas to go forward. Pessimists may feel that optimists are always going off half-cocked, and coming up with flawed efforts.

Given the differences between them, can you imagine how much more effective pessimists and optimists would be if they came together and played to their strengths?

To learn more, check out this blog:

Recent Public Appearances

You might find of interest a number of recent public appearances about my three recent best-selling books:

Recorded webinar for the Association of Payroll Professionals Southeast Pennsylvania on ''How Payroll Professionals Can Adapt and Plan for COVID''
Podcast interview on addressing blindspots and unconscious bias on “Innovating Leadership”
Article for SciTechDaily on wise decision making in hiring to address unconscious bias
Article for The Decision Lab on how to avoid COVID misinformation.

What’s Up With Me

It’s been a sad, stressful, and anxiety-inducing couple of weeks, watching the unfolding Electionpocalypse in the US. It’s one of those situations where I hate having made the right call about an upcoming disaster.

Fortunately, it’s in the milder range of possible election disaster scenarios. Three of my current clients experienced civil unrest outside their place of business, but most did not. More seriously, the uncertainty around the Presidential transition and budget planning has been a growing headache for a number of my clients who have federal contracts. And of course, almost all of my clients have had employees at all levels of the organization suffering from stress and anxiety.

It’s been a busy time for me helping my coaching and consulting clients manage the situation. When I wasn’t doing that, I was taking restorative and self-care time to manage my own stress and anxiety. I’m hoping the situation will be resolved soon, perhaps with the Electoral College vote on December 14th, so that we can have more certainty and stability. Instability is not good for business, and anxiety and stress are not good for anyone.

Recommendations For You

If you’ve taken my previous recommendations, you’re prepared for the Electionpocalypse, especially given it’s on the milder side of potential scenarios.

I’d also encourage you to hunker down for the third wave of COVID, as it looks to be the worst one yet. Try to find more entertaining things to do at home this winter, including outside as much as possible, so you can spend time with others in a socially distanced manner. For example, my wife and business partner Agnes Vishnevkin and I recently upgraded our backyard with outdoor heaters and a fire pit to spend time with friends outside this winter. How do you plan to safely spend time with friends and loved ones this winter?

Help Me Serve Your Needs

What are some examples of when you had difficulty with collaborations between pessimists and optimists? Is there anything in the article which can help you make good decisions when hiring pessimists and optimists? Which next steps will you take based on this article/video/podcast?

Look forward to your feedback! I strive to improve my ability to help you avoid decision disasters and maximize success, so any feedback you can provide on this content - or anything else - will help me serve your needs better.

Decisively Yours,

Gleb

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