What is thin slicing?
In rapid cognition, one of the critical areas of focus is referred to as thin-slicing. Thin-slicing is a psychological term which refers to the ability to intuitively make quick decisions on the basis of minimal amounts of information. According to Gladwell, people “think without thinking”. He explains that people faced with events requiring rapid judgments indulge in thin-slicing thereby exhibiting the ability of the mind to instinctively find solutions in situations based on very narrow slices of knowledge. He further makes the observation that this occurrence is what makes the unconscious mind so fascinating. (Gladwell 23)
The author also opines that the individuals who become great decision makers have perfected the
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In business practice, decisions are often arrived after going through lengthy consultations, meetings, among other rituals. The people involved are usually overwhelmed by the copious amounts of information and data analysis necessary to craft practicable decisions. In such instances, some people tend to exhibit an innate ability to make decision by following their intuition. Although, the decisions made from first impressions may be accurate, they usually cannot be easily explained, hence no action is taken. However, for tough decisions thin-slicing could be used if the decision-makers are experienced and show no …show more content…
To be a successful Financial Advisor a person has to surmount the huge demands on their ability to give relevant advice. There are very many variables in play whenever the Financial Advisor is approached by a potential customer such as their attitude, behavior, knowledge of the problem, information to be analyzed, extent of the financial problem, urgency of the problem among others. A good Financial Advisor when faced with this flood of information has to learn to quickly pick the relevant information critical to his decision. He should be able to unconsciously edit those first impressions and adjust the level of his advice accordingly (Gladwell 89). Therefore, decision makers should use thin slicing as tool to sift through huge amounts of data or when they encounter a complex situation that requires a fast decision.
Do you agree that too often, the analysis of too much information can result in bad decisions?
Yes, I agree that analysis of too much information can result in bad decisions. Some situations may necessitate taking snap decisions especially where the probability of loss or damage is considerable. When making a decision, it is expected that the collected information helps to arrive at an accurate decision. However, if there is too much information to navigate through the decision maker may suffer from analysis paralysis, thereby distorting the
Today, number crunching affects our lives in ways we may never have imagined. Ian Ayres book, Super Crunchers, shows how today 's best and brightest organizations are analyzing massive databases at lightning speed to provide greater insights into human behavior. They are the “Super Crunchers”. From Internet sites like Google and Amazon that knows you better than you do yourself, to a physician 's diagnosis and your child 's education, to boardrooms and government agencies, this new breed of decision makers are calling the shots. And they are delivering staggeringly accurate results. Want to know whether the price of an airline ticket will go up or down before you buy? How can a formula out predict wine experts in determining the best vintages? Super crunchers have the answers. Ayres shows us the benefits and risks, and how super crunching can be used to help, not
My attention to detail drives my approach for considering all the details when analyzing a situation. That being said, these strengths are also my weaknesses. At times, my decision-making processes are more time consuming than ideal and I can get bogged down by the details such that I lose sight of the larger scope. Additionally, I serve as a link between the internal and external teams and must balance their respective needs, which may be conflicting at times. Therefore, I must fortify my strategic planning and communication skills such that it can apply to a variety of key players.
Where would the world be without the inventions and ideas of the 1920's? The answer is, no one really knows; however, the inventions and ideas that were brought about in the 1920's are things that are used more than ever today. With the technological advancements made in the 1920's, the invention of the radio, television, automobile, and other minor advancements made the 1920's one of the most important decades of the 1900's.
To most people the blink of an eye is a very short span of time. Most people would not believe, however, that critical information can be gathered and a conclusion made in the blink of an eye. In Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Malcolm Gladwell proves that split second decisions or what some call “gut decisions” can be just as reliable if not more reliable than drawn out, researched conclusions. Gladwell believes that this book will revolutionize the thought process and the world, he proves this by using exemplification and compare and contrast.
Gladwell refers ‘thin slicing’ as the ability to make a fast conclusion using very little information. This is an activity that almost everybody does on a daily basis when faced with different issues. In his book, Gladwell focuses on how mental process work rapidly for one to make the best and accurate judgements. He provides several examples where quick and accurate decisions are made and they are; gambling, advertising, wars and sales. Thin slicing proves that sudden decisions are right compared to those that are planned and calculated. However, thin slicing can limit individuals’ understanding of the surrounding because of inadequate data.
When I read the profiles of John as an introvert and as an extrovert, my mind kept returning to the thought that both of these stories were about the same man; that each told the story of that man in different circumstances. Immediately, my mind led me down the road of creating the story behind John. Was the extrovert John his normal persona, but introvert John showed up on a melancholy day? Or perhaps, Jon was usually very introverted, but we caught him on a particularly optimistic day in the extroverted scenario? I found myself wanting more details; wondering why he had not spoken with the pretty girl from last night. Why did he need the stationery? How does he know so many people in the paper store? Obviously, he is not a total recluse if he had the opportunity to see the pretty girl. My reaction is explained easily enough by author Malcolm Gladwell, "We have, as human beings, a storytelling problem. We're a bit too quick to come up with explanations for things we don't really have an explanation for." (Gladwell, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking , 2005) Gladwell clarifies that when we are missing the details we crave to fill these gaps in the stories, we feel the need to create them ourselves. He further defines this behavior as “rapid cognition” which is, “…the kind of thinking that happens in a blink of an eye. When you meet someone for the first time, or walk into a house you are thinking of buying, or read the first few sentences of a book, your mind takes about two seconds to jump to a series of conclusions.” (Gladwell, 2005) We utilize rapid cognition on a daily basis to judge people and situations all around us. It is a subconscious process in which we size up a person or situation in approximately t...
Langdon, K. (2001). Smart things to know about decision making. Retrieved December 9, 2007, from eResourse.
Many of the decisions one makes are heavily based on bias, past experience, peer pressure or wrong ideas. Decision making is a complicated algorithm that is affected a lot by the subconscious or peer pressure, although one is fully in charge of his decisions, study shows one’s decision is strongly distorted.
I personally believe that to acquire more accurate information, it is important to
But what good is all this information if it is not usable? "Almost all our resources are dedicated to gathering the raw material--information--and almost nothing is spent on the most important job of transforming information into intelligence" (Milton 1989, p. 6). Milton suggests that it is possible to have "negative information"--that which causes the recipient to know less than before because it is not integrated, applied, and transformed into knowledge. Essential to information mastery is understanding the relationship between data, information, and knowledge (TAFE-TEQ 1992): data are raw facts and figures, information is data organized into a meaningful context, and knowledge is organized data (i.e., information) that has been understood and applied.
‘It is more important to discover new ways of thinking about what is already known than to discover new data or facts’. To what extent would you agree with this claim?
Now we will consciously or unconsciously make decisions which we think are for the best for us, for the ones we care for, or for the society or organisation as a whole. In order to make wiser decisions we should know what contributes in making a good or a bad choice. We should know what all options are there available to us and mak...
Decision Making Insights. I will be most successful when I have all the information necessary for decision-making, as my dominant cognitive styles are planning and knowing. This approach does not leave room for ambiguity and stifles flexibility and creativity. Consequently, I thrive in established organizations that value hierarchy, procedures, and open communication, because they assist my natural cognitive processes. (Pearson Education, 2016)
Facing a situation, you have to decide. For example, the fire surrounds you: What do you do? Jump through the windows and risk to kill yourself or to wait the firemen and risk to be burned to death if they come to late? Every decision that we make or don’t make shapes our future. Everyone tries to make good decisions. However, it is easy to overlook an important factor, miss a desirable option, or base the decision on unreliable information. In addition, fear of making a wrong choice can cause someone to postpone decisions, leading to miss opportunities. A businessperson must have the ability to make decisions under the pressure of time and circumstances. This ability needs a good knowledge of the decision making process.
Decision making is one of the most important aspects in life and work because of its strong link to success and effectiveness. Actually, successful people achieve their goals in life and work through effective and efficient decision making. The decision making process is usually guided by an individual’s beliefs, values, and attitudes as well concepts. While a person can use various concepts in making decisions, they should be very careful to select a concept that is effective and contributes to huge success. Nonetheless, these concepts exist to help an individual become a better decision maker in the world around him/her.