“We study natural stupidity instead of artificial intelligence.”

The above quote was offered by Amos Tversky, an Israeli cognitive and mathematical psychologist, in response to a question about AI way back in the 1970s.

Tversky and his longtime colleague Daniel Kahneman are the subject the book, The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis. It’s a fascinating account of their lives and work that for we laypeople is essentially about how human beings make decisions. We all think we are rational and logical, yet research study after study would suggest (even prove) quite the opposite. The duo’s work has been widely applied to economic theory and human behavior as others have continued to build on their research.

As executives, decision-making is an essential skill as so much about our organizations and those we are leading are counting on solid strategy, sound financial judgment, and the ability to pivot when conditions change from a competitor’s move, a change in personnel, or say a global pandemic.

One of the biggest factors that draw executives to our Vistage groups is simply that they want to make better decisions. I say often that it’s not that these leaders aren’t capable of making decisions. They are! These are smart and accomplished people. They just want to make better decisions faster by surrounding themselves with other capable decision-makers. The advantage they’re gaining is that everyone else is removed from the details of the decision, which allows them to exercise greater objectivity. They ask the uninformed question and commit to tell each other the truth, even the hard truth.

So what about you? Are you immune to the factors that decades of research on human behavior say we are anything but rational and logical in our decision-making? If not, who are the truth-tellers in your life? The quality of your decisions and outcomes are literally counting on it.