Hidden Traps in Decision Making

Making ------------ is the most important job of

any executive.

• decisions

• plans

• projects

• policies

Bad decisions can come from inadequate decision making --------- or from the decision maker's -----------------

• person, knowledge

• process, mind

• person, mind

• process, knowledge

Research in the laboratory and in the field shows that we use unconscious to ----------------- cope with the complexity inherent in most decisions.

• processes

• mind

• routines

• rules

------------ are routines that serve us well in most situations of complex decision making.

• Hermeneutics

• Expositive

• Elucidative

• Heuristics

Psychological -------- are especially dangerous. They can undermine everything

from new-product development to acquisition and divestiture strategy to succession planning.

• traps

• tools

• techniques

• tests

Anchors take many ------------. They can be as simple and seemingly innocuous as a comment offered by a colleague or a statistic appearing in the morning newspaper

• shapes

• guises

• structures

• styles

A marketer attempting to project the sales of a product for the coming year often begins by looking at the sales volumes for past years. The old numbers become -------------, which the forecaster then adjusts based on other factors

• standards

• basis

• anchors

• society

As anchors can establish the terms on which a decision will be made, they are often used as a ------------------- tactic by savvy negotiators.

• decision making

• deal closing

• ripping

• bargaining

Decision makers display a strong bias toward alternatives that ------------ the status quo.

• perpetuate

• propagate

• persuade

• prorogate

Managers must always view a problem from different -------------. Try using alternative starting points and approaches rather than sticking with the first line of thought that occurs to you

• origins

• perspectives

• sources

• people