“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself
and you are the easiest person to fool.”
--Richard Feynman

We make decisions all day long. Good decisions, bad decisions, mediocre decisions, decisions that have minimal impact on our lives and decisions that are enormously important. Most of us imagine that we give significant decisions the weight, thoughtfulness and care that they require, but the truth is that despite our best intentions, humans fall blindly into a range of decision traps that corrupt our thinking and deliver poor results. Sometimes, despite ourselves, we end up making decisions that actually run counter to our interests! And sometimes we make self serving decisions that sabotage us in unexpected and enormous ways down the line.

Behaviorists have demonstrated that when confronted with choices that involve uncertainty (like most big decisions that give us pause) people regularly employ heuristics – rules of thumb or mental shortcuts—to simplify and oversimplify decisions. Our choices are routinely skewed by a whole closetful of biases that cloud our judgment.

Here are the most common traps to be alert for:


When you don’t take the time to frame your decision intelligently, you can set out to solve the wrong problem because you have an inaccurate framework for your decision. A poor frame can cause you to overlook the best options or lose sight of important objectives.

Ask yourself: What is the problem? What do I (we) want? What will a good decision accomplish?


Consciously or unconsciously we drag a problem into our comfort zone cleverly enabling us to avoid big changes in thinking or behavior. In the trap of the comfort zone we tend to do what comes naturally instead of what is important. We hang on to false beliefs and fail to learn even with strong evidence.

Ask yourself: What is my comfort zone in this situation. Am I twisting information to match what is easiest for me? If I were to step out of my comfort zone what different kinds of choices would be possible?


People are susceptible to distorting their judgments in order to look good and get ahead and fulfill personal ambitions. This self serving bias motivates people to reach conclusions that favor them. The motivational bias trap can cause us to escalate our commitment to a given decision to protect an earlier choice—this is the ‘throwing good money after bad phenomenon.’ Studies have shown that people are generally reluctant to accept a sure loss, and therefore are willing to make unsound bets in the hopes of breaking even. This decision trap can cause people to seek evidence that confirms their own bias while ignoring information that contradicts it.

Ask yourself: What would a person unaffiliated with this situation say about the information I have been given? What is it that I truly want from this situation? In the short term if I make decision X what are my potential gains and risks. How about in the longer term?


Perceptions are distorted because of the way our brains sense and process information. For example, people tend to significantly overestimate what they know—this leads to decisions made on guess-work, faulty premises and overconfidence. Another way that information gets distorted by our brains is that we tend to anchor judgments on information that is easiest to recall—recent information, dramatic information, information that tugs at our heart strings, even ‘official’ information which is often heavily leaded with its own set of motivational biases.

Ask yourself: On whose information am I anchoring my decision? What kind of research/additional data will enable me to be certain that I am starting my decision process from an intelligent and non-biased place? If I were really honest with myself, what can I say with confidence that I am certain of in this situation?


Casual reasoning can lead us to incorrect conclusions and yet we often simplify inappropriately, substitute relative comparisons for absolute measures and allow easy-going conversation about a decision to take the place of vigorous and rigorous thinking. When it comes to uncertainty few of us are able to reason with logic — we form false beliefs based on random and explainable effects, we try to solve complex problems in our head instead of working out decision trees and probable outcomes on paper.

Ask yourself: What is measurable here? How can I put the choices I am weighing on paper so that I can logically evaluate possible outcomes? (If you’re not familiar with decision trees and simple probability check out this web article which will walk you through the basics): http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_04.htm


Even though many of us feel safer making decisions in groups (less individual responsibility and the comfort of thinking together) groups not only combine individual distortions but add additional distortions that arise due to group dynamics. In groups people tend to: jump to conclusions prematurely or get bogged down and fail to reach consensus; be reluctant to voice dissenting opinions; believe falsely that everyone agrees with the group decision.

Ask yourself: If I were alone and not pressured by the energy of the group, what is the decision that I would make? Do I have enough information to make an informed judgment? Does the group? Is my group suffering from groupthink? Is coming to consensus the same as making a good decision?

However much we might like to believe that we make important decisions well, the truth is that we are human—bounded by our emotions, driven by desires and likely to do insufficient research to clearly understand the situation we are assessing as fully as we need to. If you use these decision traps as a starting point for your thinking around decisions that have big impact and enduring consequence, you will make better decisions and have greater confidence in your choices.

The best leaders of all, the people know not they exist.
They turn to each other and say ‘We did it ourselves.’
~ Zen Saying

Dina Silver, MCC, is the Principal of Pegasus Coaching Group.

I specialize in leadership coaching working with senior executives and their teams to create great leaders and high impact groups. I have enjoyed success working with technically proficient people who need guidance in developing the interpersonal skills that are essential to effective and compelling leadership.

My background in the entertainment industry as a feature film and interactive game producer effectively assists me in helping leaders develop powerful executive presence so that ideas and challenging initiatives are met with keen interest and excitement. In order to lead, people must be excited to follow!

I have enjoyed trusted advisor status with high performance individuals, teams and organizations, coaching in high tech, entertainment, banking, and marketing.

I hold a B.A. in United States History from Princeton University. I am a Master Certified Coach (MCC) and hold my credentialing through the International Coach Federation. In addition, I am certified in a range of assessment tools including DISC and PIAV, and am an active member of Professional Coaches and Mentors Association (PCMA) and the International Coach Federation (ICF). I am married, have two teenage kids, two fat black cats and live in Santa Monica, CA.

If you are interested in learning more about how my work may be of value to you and your organization, please get in touch. I am happy to offer interested prospects a complimentary and confidential half hour coaching session so you can take me and coaching for a test drive.