As a leader, you are often called upon to make very quick, yet very important decisions. Are you ever surprised by how often these rapid-fire choices seem to turn out to be some of your best? You might be thin slicing and as a leader, you might be doing it better than many others.
Thin slicing means making very quick decisions with minimal amounts of information. It’s not entirely unlike a first impression or your gut reaction to something. There is evidence that this quick decision-making is often very, very accurate. In fact, sometimes, evidence suggests thin slicing is more accurate than long mulled over decisions.
Do some people just think better on their feet? Is it intuition at play that makes some people make these fast judgments better or more accurately? How do we decide when situations best benefit from our quick response or a more thoughtful, cautious, contemplative kind of thought process or slow analysis?
There is some solid science behind this and it’s pretty interesting, especially with regard to leadership and experience. What does the science appear to reflect? Well, it comes down to experience. If you have a great deal of relevant experience, your sub-conscious mind can be like a super computer rapidly processing and distilling lots of different bits in record speed. It only seems like you are deciding on the fly, when really, your brain is running through past experience to help you solve today’ issue. And the evidence suggests that in these types of scenarios, adding more time to the decision making process actually reduces the chance of making the best decision.
On the other hand, if you don’t have a good cache of relevant experience, thin slicing is likely to be far less accurate. In these scenarios, slower, careful analysis is usually best. As a leader, we can take a few different things away from this. First, rack up as much experience as possible and listen and read everything that you can. It may seem like you don’t hang on to everything but it’s likely stored in the deep recesses of that noggin of yours just waiting for the day you need it. Second, create your integral team from people who have different specialties and experiences than you do and call upon them in to give opinions where they have relevant experiences. And last, know where you have the most knowledge and experience so that when situations arise, you know how to best use that brain of yours to secure the best outcomes.
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