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Keep Your Decision-Making Brain Switched On

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  • February 22, 2019

RF Bahamas Economic Outlook 2019 will have a special presentation from English economist and writer, Noreena Hertz. Her books, Silent Takeover: Global Capitalism and the Death of Democracy, IOU: The Debt Threat and Why We Must Defuse It, Eyes Wide Open: How to Make Smart Decisions in a Confusing World are all best sellers. In 2010, she did a TED talk in London on the topic of “How to use experts — and when not to”, arguing that there is a need to not “switch off” your mind while in the presence of experts and isolating three main strategies when dealing with them.  These include “embracing dissent, taking experts on and democratizing expertise”. It is controversial in theory but what about in practice?


Embracing Dissent

For leaders of small and large companies, tough decisions have to be made and they may not be accepted by everyone. Former Udemy Chief Executive Officer Dennis Yang, gave some valuable tips to those at that senior level on managing dissent. He advocated not hiding from dissent which may be easier than engaging and resolving the situation. For leaders, he conveyed the benefits of embracing a culture of openness as “necessary for a successful marketplace” and developing empathy while knowing your position. Hertz on this point noted that encouraging dissent goes “against our instincts” but by doing so it creates an environment which makes people smarter through creation and destruction of ideas and sharing of knowledge.


Taking Experts On

Hertz’s advice of taking on the experts is often easier said than done. Currently, in the international athletics arena, experts are supporting International Association of Athletics Federation’s (IAAF’s) eligibility regulations for athletes with disorders of sex development (DSD) at the court of arbitration for sport this week. In Hertz’s TED talk, she used the example of medical trials and the biases which can influence the outcomes. For the economist, “experts’ assumptions and their methodologies can easily be flawed”.


Democratizing Expertise

The question is should everyone have the same knowledge or should some information be classified? In this society, knowledge is power and to open access means to expose oneself to risk. But at the same time, it can solve problems and increase opportunities for growth and innovation. Founder of Senseo, Raj Sharma is aiming to create an open public sector market and he has created GovShop and an online search engine defined as “democratizing market and supplier information, giving it away for free, arming people with the tools to drive a change in thinking”.  Open access in the private sectors of finance, investment and telecommunications could mean faster recovery and transition from economic situations. In Hertz’s 2010 speech, she called on the audience to deconstruct the idea of experts being of specific stratum in society and possessing higher learning academic qualifications. She argued the expert could be anyone and this is a part democratizing expertise.

 

For information on the key speaker at RFBEO 2019 visit https://www.rfbeo.com/noreena-hertz.

 

Sources

https://www.ted.com/talks/noreena_hertz_how_to_use_experts_and_when_not_to/transcript?language=en#t-267294

https://spendmatters.com/uk/working-towards-a-more-open-and-accessible-public-sector-marketplace-for-suppliers-and-buyers/

https://www.inc.com/dennis-yang/why-great-leaders-dont-fear-dissent.html



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