Advanced Decision Making: Examining Thinking Traps and Decision Making

This assignment explores the impact of thinking traps on decision-making. It examines how historical anchors influence choices and the role of brain function in the process. The student analyzes a personal experience where thinking traps led to emotional reasoning, impacting decisions. The assignment also references academic sources to understand why our brains can lead to poor decisions and how these processes relate to traps. It provides insights into improving decision-making by understanding the factors that influence our choices and how to avoid common pitfalls. The work also discusses the importance of historical anchors in providing guidance during the decision-making process. The assignment uses the works of Campbell, Whitehead, and Finkelstein to support its arguments.

Running Head: Advanced Decision Making 1
Advanced decision making
Name
Date

Advanced Decision Making 2
Please identify a situation in which someone else (in your own life, in the news, or in history)
has been impacted by thinking traps when making a decision.
Decisions of a person is what makes the biggest part of daily life. When person thinks too
much about his or her future is called thinking traps. Every day I wake up and make some
decisions on what I will take for breakfast and whether I will go to work or not. Most of time
those decisions seem to be too small but I have realized they are big decisions CITATION Cam16 \l
1033 (Campbell, 2016). In my work place, I have some co-workers who were laid down when the
company was getting closed thus giving them an opportunity to join other larger companies or
joining other departments in the organization. Thinking traps have made me to fall into
emotional reasoning for the evidence of truth. It also brought a feeling that what am believing at
the moment is true unconditionally and automatically regardless of what evidence.
In what way have historical anchors played a role in the example that you provided, if at all?
The historical anchors gives an advice on better ways when it comes to decision making.
The anchors give some advice factors to consider and ways to follow when making decisions to
avoid regrets.
According to Campbell, Whitehead and Finkelstein, why does the way our brains work lead to
poor decisions?
According to Campbell, Whitehead and Finkelstiein, the way of making any decisions is
determined by our heart. During the process of making decisions, along the way we make
mistakes CITATION Fin15 \l 1033 (Finkelstein, 2015). Our brain trips up leading to poor decisions in
our lives. The reason to this is because in most cases mental work is unconscious making hard

Advanced Decision Making 3
time for the brain to check the logic information that we use during decision making thus leading
to poor decisions.
In what ways do these processes relate to traps?
The brain can solve the problem or not thus making the individual to be in a trap because he or
she does not know the right way that can give the best decisions.

Advanced Decision Making 4
References
Campbell, A. W. (2016). Why good leaders make bad decisions. USA: Havard business review.
Finkelstein, S. W. (2015). Think again: Why good leaders make bad decions. Australia: Business
Strategy Review.