Fear of Success

Overcoming Fear of Change

Laura's boss has just announced that the company has just won a bid to create a national marketing campaign. And he is hinting that he wants Laura to head this project. All that she has to do is let him know that she's interested by the following Friday.
Laura always hoped for an opportunity like this. She knows her work and management skills qualify her for the job – and she knows that it would likely lead to a promotion, or at least to some much-deserved recognition.

Avoiding Psychological Bias in Decision Making

How to Make Objective Decisions

Imagine that you're researching a potential product. You think that the market is growing, and, as part of your research, you find information that supports this belief.
As a result, you decide that the product will do well, and you launch it, backed by a major marketing campaign.

However, the product fails. The market hasn't expanded, so there are fewer customers than you expected. You can't sell enough of your products to cover their costs, and you make a loss.
In this scenario, your decision was affected by confirmation bias. With this, you interpret market information in a way that confirms your preconceptions – instead of seeing it objectively – and you make wrong decisions as a result.

Confirmation bias is one of many psychological biases to which we're all susceptible when we make decisions. In this article, we'll look at common types of bias, and we'll outline what you can do to avoid them.

Psychological Bias

Psychological bias – also known as cognitive bias – is the tendency to make decisions or take action in an illogical way. For example, you might subconsciously make selective use of data, or you might feel pressured to make a decision by powerful colleagues.
Psychological bias is the opposite of common sense and clear, measured judgment. It can lead to missed opportunities and poor decision making.

Avoiding Groupthink

Avoiding Fatal Flaws in Group Decision Making

Have you ever thought about speaking up in a meeting and then decided against it because you did not want to appear unsupportive of the group's efforts?
Or led a team in which the team members were reluctant to express their own opinions?
If so, you have probably been a victim of "Groupthink".

Reactive Decision Making

Making Good Decisions Under Press

People tend to make decisions reactively when confronted with emergency situations or when a disaster unfolds.
In these circumstances, the best decisions tend to be those that have been thought-through and rehearsed ahead of time, a good example being use of a pre-prepared evacuation plan when the office catches on fire.
The normal decision-making process generally involves:

1. Defining the problem.
2. Collecting necessary information.
3. Developing options.
4. Devising a plan.
5. Executing.
6. Following-up. 

Ten Characteristics Of Debt Free People

1. They pay attention to details
You won’t notice that recurring fee on your credit card for the gym you’ve stopped using if you’re not checking your statement regularly. People without debt monitor their personal finances closely. They are less likely to waste money by forgetting about payment due dates or overdraft fees.