Management thinking - mindless, mindful and out of our minds

Every now and again you come across a really good quote that is also quite helpful.  The above comes from an exceptionally good review on Managerial and Organisational Cognition by James Walsh  (Walsh, J. P. (1995). Managerial and organizational cognition - notes from a trip down memory lane. [Review]. Organization Science, 6(3), 280-321).

More fully 'research suggests that we can be mindful, mindless and out of our minds when taking action in organizations.'  Now space and the amount of time you want to spend reading this blog doesn't allow for a full review on managerial cognition and decision making but in essence the quote isn't quite as harsh as it initially reads.

  • Mindless refers to making decisions without taking into account new information, simply put, following what we have always done despite warning signals.  This situation is also linked to 'cognitive or managerial inertia', where managerial perceptions of what is happening lag behind changes in either the internal or external environment, sometimes referred to being asleep at the wheel!!
  • Mindful refers to using new information as the base for decision making.  This type of decision making is quite rare and used in unusual or rare situations where previous managerial ideas aren't applicable.  
  • Out of our minds when some pressure forces us to act before we have time to adequately think.  'How do I know what I think until I see what I say?' - that's one to bend your head around a little.

Complicating this is that as human beings we are very good at seeking out and accepting information that agrees with our view of the world and disregarding or treating as inaccurate information that contradicts our view of the world.  Called information filtering, this can lead to what researchers have dubbed 'blind spots'.

It must have been written countless scores of times about the complexity and speed of today's economic environment and the difficulty this poses for strategic decision making in organisations.  However decisions still must be made and given the environment, the ramifications of these decisions will in all probability be greater.

What helps is knowing when you are being mindless and just carrying on the path that you set disregarding the signs.  People from outside the organisation/industry can be invaluable as they can sanity check the situation and ask the 'dumb' questions.  Independent directors, advisors (that you pay for short bursts of work, no one needs to be milked by consultants) and the like can be very usual for organisational decision making.

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