We’ve all witnessed it: smart people like executives, doctors, and leaders making bad decisions – some of which were catastrophic. The Space Shuttle Challenger explosion in 1986 is one tragic example. Official investigations concluded that, due to pressure to launch on schedule, NASA and other experts overlooked the dangers of launching the space shuttle in […]
Have you ever noticed that looking down from the top of a tall building seems farther than looking up at it from the bottom? Likewise, looking up at skyscrapers usually isn’t scary, while looking down from the top can evoke panic. In fact, people in experiments conducted by Jackson & Cormack (2007) judged the same […]
What if I asked you to describe yourself in three words? You might say, “smart, responsible, and caring”. What if I then produced a “predictive” report saying something about you like: “At work, you are likely to be a good problem-solver (smart) who can be counted on to follow-through on your commitments (responsible), while also attending to […]