Why we make decision-making mistakes

Every day we make hundreds of decisions: what to eat, which route to take, how to respond to a colleague, where to invest, which project to launch. Some decisions are small and innocuous, others can change our careers, our health, or our relationships.
Yet, despite experience, intelligence, and good will, we continue to make mistakes.
Why?
Because our brains aren't designed to be perfectly rational: they're designed to work quickly, not always accurately.
In this article, we look at why decision-making errors are so common, and how to recognize them and avoid them.

The brain wants to save energy: mental shortcuts
The primary source of errors lies in the way our minds are constructed. Under normal conditions, the brain consumes about 20% of the body's energy. To avoid overloading itself, it uses heuristics, cognitive shortcuts that allow it to make quick decisions.
Heuristics are useful in most cases, but they become dangerous when:
• the problem is complex
• the data is ambiguous
• in-depth analysis is needed
• the consequences are significant
This is when cognitive biases can come into play, systematic distortions of thinking that lead us astray.

We decide too quickly
When faced with uncertainty, the brain wants an immediate response. Ambiguity makes us uncomfortable, so:
• we complete the missing information
• we interpret the facts according to ready-made schemes
• we act before we have explored alternatives
This leads to:
• hasty judgments
• overestimation of our abilities
• choices based on opinions, not data
It's an evolutionary mechanism: in the savannah, it was better to react immediately. Today, however, it can cost us dearly.

Emotions and Stress: When the Emotional System Takes Control
One of the greatest enemies of good decision-making is stress, because it activates the most impulsive part of the brain (amygdala) and weakens analytical ability (prefrontal cortex).
It happens when:
• we feel under pressure
• we have little time
• we are tired or overloaded
• we are afraid of making mistakes
Emotions are not bad: they make us human and can improve our choices.
The problem is when they guide our choices without us realizing it.

The need for confirmation: we only see what we want to see
Confirmation bias is one of the most powerful biases: we tend to seek out, remember, and interpret only information that confirms what we already believe.
Consequences:
• we ignore contrary signals
• we discard useful data
• we remain prisoners of our beliefs
It's a huge obstacle in work, investments, and relationships.
Social influence: we decide "by imitation"

The choices of others profoundly influence our own.
This happens for several reasons:
• desire for approval
• implicit social pressure
• excessive trust in majority opinion
• fear of standing out
This leads to collective errors.

The illusion of control
Many bad decisions arise from the idea – often false – that we can predict or control more aspects than we actually do.
Typical examples:
• overestimate one's skills
• believing you can predict complex markets, people, or events
• confuse luck and skill
The illusion of control makes us take more risks than we can afford.

Too Much Information: Paralysis or Worse Decisions
We often think, "The more information I have, the better I can make decisions." In reality, beyond a certain threshold:
• increases confusion
• irrelevant details emerge
• it becomes difficult to distinguish the signal from the noise
• mental fatigue increases
Too much data leads to two outcomes:
• we don't decide at all
• we make worse decisions, because we lose sight of what really matters

Decision fatigue: the brain exhausts itself
The more decisions we make, the more the quality of subsequent decisions declines.
It's called decision fatigue: a phenomenon measured in several studies.
Typical signs:
• impulsive choices
• inability to evaluate alternatives
• automatic delegation
• procrastination
This is why many leaders and professionals eliminate unnecessary decisions from their routines.

How to improve decisions
Our brains aren't designed to be perfect: they're designed to help us survive, not to optimize every choice.
The goal is not to completely eliminate errors (that's impossible), but to recognize, anticipate, and reduce them.
Improving decisions means:
• slow down when necessary
• distinguish emotion from analysis
• understand and overcome your biases
• create better decision-making processes
• ask for external help (e.g. Decision Making Assistant)
• ask better questions, don't look for quick answers