Metacognition: Decision making 2.0

Week 39: Metacognition: Decision making 2.0

In the ever-evolving corporate workspace, the ability to make effective decisions is a skill that can greatly impact an employee's success. One of the keys to enhancing decision-making abilities lies in the concept of metacognition, as delved deeply by David Robson, in his book, “The Intelligence Trap”. Today we’ll explore how this cognitive process can empower and equip employees to make better decisions.

The Essence of Metacognition

Metacognition, often referred to as "thinking about thinking," is the process of being aware of one's cognitive processes and strategically using this awareness to improve decision-making. Let’s have a look at some of the common personas we find in our workspace and how they can deploy metacognition to their benefit.

Persona 1: The Impulsive Innovator

Characteristics: This employee persona is creative, spontaneous, and often generates groundbreaking ideas. However, they tend to act impulsively, sometimes leading to hasty or impractical decisions.

How Metacognition Helps:

Metacognition encourages the Impulsive Innovator to pause and reflect before acting on their ideas. By recognising their tendency to jump into decisions without a plan, they can learn to channel their creativity into more structured and thought-out strategies, resulting in more successful and sustainable innovations.

Persona 2: The Analytical Perfectionist

Characteristics: These employees are meticulous, detail-oriented, and strive for perfection. While this attention to detail is valuable, it can sometimes lead to indecision or over-analysis.

How Metacognition Helps:

Metacognition empowers the Analytical Perfectionist to become aware of their inclination to overthink decisions. They can learn to set realistic boundaries, allocate time wisely, and prioritise tasks effectively. This newfound self-awareness helps them maintain their precision without getting bogged down by unnecessary details.

Persona 3: The Risk-Averse Planner

Characteristics: This persona is cautious, preferring to avoid risks and make safe decisions. While this approach minimises potential failures, it can hinder progress and innovation. This person can spend hours planning to do and leaving very little time or bandwidth to actually act on the decision.

How Metacognition Helps:

Metacognition guides the Risk-Averse Planner to recognise their aversion to risk and their fear of failure. By becoming more aware of these tendencies, they can strategically assess when to take calculated risks, allowing them to make bolder decisions when necessary without compromising their overall cautious approach.

Persona 4: The Proactive Problem-Solver

Characteristics: These employees are solution-oriented, quick thinkers, and adept at resolving issues. However, they may sometimes overlook the importance of in-depth analysis.

How Metacognition Helps:

Metacognition encourages the Proactive Problem-Solver to evaluate their decision-making process. They can learn to balance their natural inclination to act swiftly with a conscious effort to gather sufficient data and consider potential consequences. This leads to more comprehensive and effective solutions.

Persona 5: The Team-Player Collaborator

Characteristics: Collaborators excel in team environments, valuing consensus and cooperation. However, their desire for harmony may cause them to avoid difficult decisions or compromise excessively.

How Metacognition Helps:

Metacognition assists the Team-Player Collaborator in recognising their tendency to prioritize consensus over critical decision-making. With this awareness, they can learn to strike a balance, making decisions that consider team dynamics while ensuring that choices align with overarching goals.

Cultivating Meta-Cognition:

To harness the power of metacognition, each one of us has to take some steps:

• Self-Reflection: It is vital to regularly reflect on our thoughts, actions, and decision-making processes. We can start by asking ourselves questions like, "Why did I make that decision?" or "What was my thought process behind that choice?"
• Journaling: Keeping a journal can be a powerful tool for metacognition. Employees can write down their thoughts, decisions, and reflections regularly. Over time, this habit can help them identify patterns and areas for improvement.
• Feedback and Assessment: Employees need to seek feedback from colleagues, supervisors, or mentors. Constructive feedback can provide valuable insights into their decision-making strengths and weaknesses.

Metacognition is a versatile tool that can empower employees of all personas to make better decisions. By embracing this concept and tailoring its application to individual traits, organisations can foster a culture of self-awareness and strategic thinking, ultimately leading to more effective and successful decision-making across the board.