Category Archives: Research

Illusion of Control Bias and Related Leadership Snafus

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Part 5 in our “Cognitive Bias and Leadership” On our January 16, 2013 blog, I gave an overview of cognitive bias (our tendency to filter information through our own past experiences, likes, and dislikes) and surmised that it can lead to judgments that are faulty.  We have been exploring how these biases affect the ability to lead and make good decisions. In the fifth in our series, I am expanding on the Illusion of Control Bias – the tendency to overestimate your degree of influence over external events. The classic example is gambling…think someone who is convinced they have a system for choosing the right random Keno or lottery numbers. This cognitive bias is a particularly interesting bias to me because unlike other biases, this one has an interesting upside.   It can encourage people to take responsibility or to act on something they otherwise wouldn’t. Consider entrepreneurship, which requires real risk taking – the chances of… …

Anchoring Bias and Positive Leadership

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Part 4 in our “Cognitive Bias and Leadership” Series On our January 16, 2013 blog, we gave an overview of cognitive bias (our tendency to filter information through our own past experiences, likes, and dislikes) and surmised that it can lead to faulty judgments. So much of positive leadership hinges on good decision making, which, of course, affects company culture and workplace happiness. So, let’s expand the discussion. In the fourth of our series, I am going to talk about the Anchoring Bias. This bias is the tendency to favor a piece of information and “anchor on” or favor that information when making decisions, even though it may have no logical relevance to the decision at hand. With the Anchoring Bias, the information becomes our reference point to evaluate and make decisions. And, as you might guess, this can lead… …

Anticipatory Savoring: The IPPA World Congress

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I’m flying to Los Angeles tomorrow.  I’m leaving my 2 1/2 year old and my 7 month old (whom I’m still nursing, if that isn’t TMI) and I’m leaving them for four days with my mother-in-law.  And I’m spending a lot of money to go to the 3rd International Positive Psychology Association conference.  (Conferences are expensive!  This one is $740. Not to mention the added lectures and workshops that you can go to before and after the event.) But it will be worth it.  I’ve been to the first two and each time I’m learned as much as going to a graduate level course and made good connections (and gotten jobs) from/with the people I’ve met. The IPPA website as such press worthy quotes as:  ”Presentations, workshops, and poster sessions will feature leading-edge research, as well as applications of positive… …

Cultivating Curiosity And Engagement

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This morning, I stumbled across statistics that show challenges with engagement, creativity, and well-being begin long before people enter the workforce. So, while Positive Business DC’s mission is to use science-backed research to help people improve their companies, culture, and the bottom line, let’s take a moment to see how we can improve the level of well-being with our kids. According to The Future Project, students lose interest in school at an alarming rate due to disengagement, lack of fulfillment, and lack of motivation. (Sounds familiar, right? Research tells us that people need autonomy, mastery and purpose in order for their jobs to be fulfilling. It should come as no surprise that students are motivated by the same needs and emotions as adults.) Disengagement •  80% of students ‘don’t see how school contributes to their learning and growth’ •  60%… …