Why Quick Thinking Leads to Bad Decisions

Chelsey Sullenberger make some righteous decision in a very short period of time.

He didn't try for an airport.
Apollo 13 anybody?

He who hesitates is lost.

--Aesop or somebody

See also "Blink", by Malcolm Gladwell.

Misleading title, "hasty decisions" are the result of not thinking. Quick thinking is doing it quickly, as sprinting is running done quickly and it comes with practice.

Funny. I recently read (but typically can't remember where...) the exact opposite.

[Edit] Remembered: it was a question on QI - they claimed that we make better decisions when we are pressured to do so quickly. Series B, I think.

Like hitting "send" before cooling off? Nah, never happened to me!

The ability to respond quickly, in pressure situations, is developed in the non-pressure times. The instances that lyn brought up are prime examples of training that kicks in when the emergency calls for a hasty decision. The proper, quick thinking was so engrained that the habit was correct.

The mind can be trained to respond in a particular way. A "quick decision" doesn't necessarily mean the tools that make that decision to be made quickly were put in place quickly or that the decision was made without the proper thinking in place. Preparation always needs to preceed decision-making. Leadership requires one to think about as many scenarios as possible in order to do things or put things in place that will handle those scenarios. Leadership keeps the inevitable "fires" under control by approaching them properly.

These principles apply to sports, business, relationships or militarily where situations come up that require prompt action. There is a statement that says, "knowledge is power". That is correct to a certain point. That information has to be applied properly. Things we learn in the past and then apply to the next new situation is called wisdom. John Maxwell says, "experience without reflection is opportunity for learning lost."