Forming and holding opinions, independent thinking
Why do some companies hire from top Tech/B-schools? Because they do not want to make individual decisions. They want a floor threshold and then basic sanity checks.
This is more efficient. That’s all.
This is not just hiring. We’re so overloaded with info that most humans have started relying on human-created signals to make opinions - a restaurant’s ratings, a school’s ranking, Google’s job, etc.
So much so that the weakest muscle in the collective human intelligence network right now is the one that enables us to form and hold opinions.
I worked with a phenomenal founder once but the only thing they could see is numbers. Why? Not because numbers matter. It is the inability to make decisions based on softer human traits, personality, or more data points that cannot be put on a bell curve. This put the founders at a super disadvantage.
Most people in business have never practiced relationships enough to make, hold, and destroy opinions, especially about people.
Why most people can’t do this / how to do this:
First, you have to admit that you’re bad at it, you have to know that
This is achievable: I was surprised when someone said on a call, this isn’t possible. How would I know who will work out and who will not
Then make a shitton of mistakes. If you’re early in your career with a great boss or positive people surrounding you, you will be rewarded for the initiative. Most people will shit on you. Get ready because, without fail, you cannot train this muscle. There is no shortcut, I’ve read all the decision-making books out there.
Learn, consult, and get feedback from those closest to you
People who’ve mastered this will look like this. Looks like drunk decision-making where years of muscle memory looks like magic
If you think you know how to do this, here is a test:
Make a decision journal. Write more so you can review more
Our minds play crazy holi of biases when we review. So if you haven’t written this down, your review is a fail
We can never review decisions from memory. The collective human lack of courage is just too big in this era for us to be anywhere close to the truth
Sidenote: Practice is planned failure with the intention to learn.
Some of us do not have controlled environments to practice in. So we go fail at the battle. As long as you don’t bleed dry, every step is just learning.
A great test of your canceling biases is losing friends because your views are so far apart, most people can’t tolerate it.