The human brain is a magnificent instrument that has evolved over thousands of years to enable us to prosper in an impressive range of conditions. But it is wired to avoid complexity (not embrace it) and to respond quickly to ensure survival (not explore numerous options). In other words, our evolved decision heuristics have certain limitations, which have been studied extensively and documented over the last few decades, particularly by researchers in the field of behavioral economics. Indeed, the ways in which our brains are biased may be well suited to the environment of our ancestors, when a fast decision was often better than no decision at all. But the hypercompetitive and fast-paced world of business today requires short response times and more accurate responses and more exploration of potential opportunities.

The good news is that, thanks to the Internet and other information technologies, we now have access to more data — sometimes much more data — about customers, employees and other stakeholders so that, in principle, we can gain a more accurate and intimate understanding of our environment. But that’s not enough; decisions still need to be made. We must explore the data so that we can discover opportunities, evaluate them and proceed accordingly. The problem is that our limitations as individual decision makers have left us ill equipped to solve many of today’s... To read the complete article, login or sign-up using the form below.