Some voices of support for WiB's launch of the management thinking mistakes iphone app from international thinkers and big brains

1. WiB
Management Thinking Mistakes
App
managementthinkingmistakes.ch

2. “Though an Idea of having such an iphone app (or a family
of apps) can be great. … I think it can popularise and make
this methods more accessible and easy for iphone users in a
variety of decision they are making every day.
managementthinkingmistakes.ch

3. “This is an inspired and useful
tool - very engaging and
stimulating!”
managementthinkingmistakes.ch

4. “This is a brilliant idea and it is an application that I plan to
use regularly. As a journalist, I encounter bias on a daily
basis. The bias is apparent in everything from government
documents to the thinking of people whom I interview for
stories. And, of course, there is surely bias in my own
writing, though it is not at all easy to recognize it. How
great it would be to have a service on my Iphone that would
warn me when I have gone astray.”
managementthinkingmistakes.ch

5. Unfortunately, the issues that I deal with (i.e. drugs and mafia) are not exactly normal, so maybe my experiences will not be good examples, or at any
rate, they will not be interesting and pertinent to most people. Nonetheless, I will tell you about one topic of discussion with which I am familiar, and
which is difficult to discuss without parties to the discussion demonstrating bias, both negative and positive. That topic is organized crime. It seems to
be difficult for many people to believe that organized crime is involved in the financial markets, or that organized crime even exists anywhere other
than in the movies. Their bias is to believe that all people are honest and good. This is especially the case when it comes to the financial markets, as
most people believe that financial operators are sophisticated, highly educated people, and that such people are (by definition) not criminals. I could
see this as being a dangerous bias for some people who are making decisions about whether to go into business with certain financial operators
without considering the possibility that those financial operators are criminals, or even organized criminals.
I know of many business people who have allowed others to invest in their companies, only to learn later that their investors were, in fact, organized
criminals who planned not to help the companies grow, but rather intended to destroy the companies for profit. Similarly, people often make
decisions to invest in the stock of publicly listed companies believing that those companies are run by honest people who want the companies to grow
and the stock price to increase, when actually the owners of the companies are organized criminals who just want to "pump and dump" the stock
(meaning they initially increase the stock price, but they ultimately drive the stock price to zero before investors have a chance to know what is
happening and recoup some of their losses). For the investors, this is definite "success" bias, believing that their investments will increase in value,
while the odds are usually against them (especially if they are handing their money to people who intend to steal it).
Conversely, people (like me) who investigate crime for a living tend to be biased towards believing that everything is rigged by criminals, hesitating to
make any investment or to trust anyone for fear of being robbed. This is an over-cautious bias. If I were ever to become an entrepreneur, I would be
biased towards believing that my company would have no chance against the sophisticated criminals or cartels, though the truth is probably that the
company would have at least some chance. As a journalist, I harbor a bias towards believing people are guilty, and it takes some effort to be fair and
assume that all people are innocent until proven guilty.
More broadly, there seems to be stark divide between "conspiracy theorists" who are biased to think everything is a conspiracy, and "skeptics" who
are so biased as to be convinced that there is no such thing as a conspiracy--that conspiracies simply do not occur. The truth is probably somewhere in
the middle, but human beings, as a rule, do not think in terms of the middle. They gravitate towards either-or, as is also evident in politics (everyone
on the left or on the right, but nowhere near the truth, which is somewhere in the middle). Even knowing their bias, it is difficult for people to correct
the bias and adopt more even-minded points of view.
It would be great to have an Iphone ap that told us what to think!

6. “I m quite intrigued by the fact that you are working, with
this app on dilemmas, decision making, mistakes etc … I m
starting at Harvard in the Fall:
http://www.extension.harvard.edu/courses/modern-
dilemmas-corporation-twenty-first-century

7. Noel Jones,Ph.D., Visiting Professor at Stamford International
University, Bangkok, Thailand; and The National Economics
University, Hanoi, Vietnam and was a former staffer with both the
World Bank and International Monetary Fund, where he studied
the development of Asean.He is an International Business and
Management Consultant with degrees in Biology, International
Development,and a Ph.,D in Management and Psychology.he has
published books and articles in the fields of
management,psychilogy,education,ICT and Multi-National
Organizations.
“Congrats on the new Phone App which sounds very helpful and useful.
Many people seem to live their lives based on assumptions that they believe despite
never testing. When you spell assume it goes like this: ASS U ME, meaning that it
makes an ass of u and me.
Secondly, many people do things out of habit without really noticing this.
Many do things in certain ways that were necessary in the past but no longer
required today, like doing accounts by hand instead of using an excel spread sheet
etc.”
managementthinkingmistakes.ch

8. Noel Jones,Ph.D., was a former staffer with both the World Bank
and International Monetary Fund, where he studied the
development of Asean.He is an International Business and
Management Consultant with degrees in Biology, International
Development,and a Ph.,D in Management and Psychology.he has
published books and articles in the fields of
management,psychilogy,education,ICT and Multi-National
Organizations.
“Some barriers to creative thinking and problem solving:
Self-imposed- Patterns, or only one right answer – Conformity - Not challenging the obvious - Evaluating too
quickly - Fear of looking like a fool - Relying on logic - Physical discomforts
My Story:
In many problem solving business meetings participants start with the obstacles or barriers to progress
before someone comes up with a reasonable proposal or suggestion. Unfortunately, then many jump on this
as the answer rather than explore other possibilities. But mostly the initial suggestions only address the
symptoms of the problem and not the real problem. Thus, Problem Solving is reduced to Symptom
Solving. There is a reluctance to take time to do some right brain thinking to try to figure out what the
problem really is, or the cause of the problem, before going after symptoms and eliminating them.
Many times false assumptions hinder progress, for it channels the thinking down narrow cul-de-sacs. An
example is a discussion about an investment in IT. The assumption is that it will cost a lot of money, when in
fact it may not cost much at all, as it may only require an upgrade and not a replacement of an earlier IT
system. “

9. Let your plan / activity take care of all aspects of life, mind, and spirit.
1 critical thinking is like a friend. It guides us against malicious propaganda. It helps to
develop and use WISDOM called Pragiya (PAGIYA). It is more than DATA, INFORMATION,
KNOWLEDGE. IT SUPASSES ALL THESE THREE,
2 CREATIVE THINKING is the mother source of all discoveries and inventions. Ultimately it
helps to create INNOVATIONS. But we must stop its use for RED THINKING (VIOLENCE). How to
redirect it for GREEN THINKING (NONVIOLENCE). It actually is LOVE CHRIST AND GANDHI.
3 CARING THINKING is the most important of all kinds of thinking. It must not restrict to ones
own people. / country. It must include not only all living beings ( plant, animals, humans) but
even include inanimate matter.
Prof. Dr. BK Passi, India
managementthinkingmistakes.ch

10. LOOK FOR THE
VOIDS
-AND FILL
THEM
managementthinkingmistakes.ch