Authors Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman have written an interesting book on how we sometimes make decisions - in particular the ones which though appear logical, but result in drastic results. The book describes how even the best trained professional can get swayed by his thoughts which override the logical reasoning.To support their study of irrational behavior, the authors have shared few case studies of situations where the best decisions have been ignored resulting in nothing less than disasters.
Here's one example: Van Zanten was KLM’s chief of security with number of years of successful flying and flight safety experience. He was commanding the KLM flight which was on its way to Holland via Las Palmas where he was to get fuel for his Boeing. Due to some reason, he was asked to land at a much smaller and ill-equipped airport of Tenerife.
Post landing, when he came to know that the Las Palmas airport was now functional, he decided to take off even when the Tenerife airport was enveloped in dense fog and his plane did not get clearance. As per the procedure, he was supposed to cancel the take off and the passengers were to be deplaned and accommodated in hotel. He assumed that his reputation for flying successfully through rough times, and reaching destinations on time was at stake, so ignoring what the safety manual listed [and he was the security head], he decided to take off.
When his plane was getting into speed, he suddenly saw another plane parked across the runway, he pulled up the aircraft's nose up in desperation in order to avoid a collision; the tail screeched on the runway, but the fuselage was ripped through the top of the Pan Am plane.
584 people died in the Tenerife airport that day.
Van was swayed by an unknown psychological force because of which his action was deprived of logic. It was the risk of LOSS AVERSION, which made him do everything in his power to avoid the loss of time, money, and the cascading effect of flight cancellation because of the delay at Tenerife.
The Brafman's talk about the hidden forces and certain principles/theories we subconsciously follow or subscribe to. Please note, I am just listing the points for my reference. It will be beneficial for you if you read this book - STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.
Loss aversion
- Our mobile bill plan
- Loss damage waiver
- The shares
- Football game – tire the other team
- 20 dollar bill – bid or lose
- Loss aversion n commitment – politics
Value Attribution: sometimes our commitments merge with sway of Value attribution
- It cannot be: that’s because we have known all this while. Opinion based on perceived value rather than objective data. We decide quickly on what’s worthy of our attention based on the value we associate with the person of event.
- Violin player
- Doctors eating sausages
Employee expectations
- Skills: what is sellable/what experience do you bring to the table?
- Toughness: How determined are you to apply those skills? Your informativeness and tenacity to succeed.
- Quickness: How quick is your turnaround? Your awareness of skills to be used to produce the best deliverable within the budgeted time.
Diagnostic Bias
- One word which makes or breaks an individual
- Perception, when they do not change
- Labeling people
- Judging people by perception and not performance
- Procedural justice: When it comes to fairness, it’s the process not the outcome that causes us to react irrationally. The computer vs people splitting money example.
Group Dynamics
- Initiators
- Blockers
- Supporters
- Observers
KLM: be trained to challenge the captain
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