Web Developers Meetup - Topic: The Art of Decision Making

We all make decisions both at work and in our personal lives. In fact we may take the process for granted and we may be shocked that most of us are poor decision makers.

Based on recent research, it seems, our brains are flawed instruments when it comes to decision making.

Research in psychology and other disciplines has revealed that our decisions are disrupted by an array of biases and irrationalities: We’re overconfident. We seek out information that supports us and downplay information that doesn't. We get distracted by short-term emotions.

As an individual or a large or small organization, we all can benefit from making better decisions.

In this presentation, Keith Engelhardt will summarize the findings outlined in two recent books that offer fascinating insights into why we make poor decisions and how to make better ones.

Wait: The Art and Science of Delay by Frank Partnoy

It turns out delaying our reactions to everyday choices––large and small––can improve the quality of our choices and our lives.

Frank Partnoy weaves together findings from hundreds of scientific studies and interviews with wide-ranging experts to craft a picture of effective decision-making that runs counter to our brutally fast-paced world.

Even as technology exerts new pressures to speed up our lives, it turns out that the choices we make––unconsciously and consciously, in time frames varying from milliseconds to years––benefit profoundly from delay.

Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work by Chip and Dan Heath

We all make several dozen (sometimes several hundred) decisions each week, most of which are based on past experience, custom, habit, etc. And it turns our processes we use to make these decision are biased and flawed and yield substandard results.

In Decisive, the Heaths, based on exhaustive studies of the decision-making literature, introduce a four-step process designed to counteract our decision making biases. Decisive takes readers on a journey illustrating how individuals and organizations have made decision blunders, and they offer fresh strategies and practical tools enabling us to make better choices.

Join Keith for a summary of these findings and tips on how to make better decisions.

Keith Engelhardt is a Sr. User Interface Developer (Web Developer/Web Designer UI/UX Specialist) at Vana Solutions in Beavercreek, OH.

He has over a decade of Web Developer/Web Design experience, including heading the web development team for one of the top ten design firms in the country. He focuses his passion for problem solving and tenacious creativity on enhancing the User Interfaces (UX) and User Experience (UX) of Web Applications and Websites. As, co-chairmen of the Dayton Wed Developers group, he regularly shares his knowledge and expertise with the group.