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Closing the Mind Gap: Making Smarter Decisions in a Hypercomplex World
We have always struggled, as human beings. But our struggle today is exacerbated by a gap between the increasingly complicated world we have created and the default ways we think about it. Twenty-first-century challenges are qualitatively different from the ones that generations of our ancestors faced, yet our thinking has not evolved to keep pace. We need to catch up. To make smarter decisions -- as governments, organizations, families and individuals -- we need more sophisticated mental strategies for interpreting and responding to today's complexity.
Best-selling author and business leader Ted Cadsby explores the insights of cognitive psychology, anthropology, biology, neuroscience, physics and philosophy to reveal the gap between how we typically tackle complex problems and what complexity actually requires of us. In an accessible and engaging style, he outlines ways to close the gap -- the strategic mental shifts that increase decision-making effectiveness. The bottom line? We need greater complexity in our thinking to match the increasing complexity in our world, and Cadsby shows us how. EDITORIAL REVIEWS
"... Cadsby has done us all a favour with this lucid tour of humanity's approach to thinking through the complexity of our world ... a helpful guide in how to think about our thinking." --ROGER MARTIN, Academic Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute and former Dean of the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, and author of Playing to Win "Brimming with insight ... a book of ambitious scope, explaining why we so often make poor decisions -- and how to do better. Professionals in all fields will find it highly valuable." --PHIL ROSENZWEIG, PhD, Professor of Strategy and International Business, IMD, and author of Left Brain, Right Stuff "... draws masterfully on a wide range of scientific findings ... a remarkable wake-up call ...." --ROBIN M. HOGARTH, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, and author of Educating Intuition "William James said we are only half awake. Ted Cadsby shows there is a lot of scientific truth wrapped inside that metaphorical truth." --PHILIP E. TETLOCK, PhD, Annenberg University Professor, University of Pennsylvania Psychology Department and Wharton School of Business, and author of Expert Political Judgment "A courageous synthesis of cognitive psychology, complexity theory and systems theory. Cadsby provides readers with practical implications for improving their decision-making process." --GARY KLEIN, PhD, Senior Scientist at MacroCognition LLC and author of Seeing What Others Don't "... distills the latest research in complexity theory and cognitive science, and shows how we can debug our 'mental software' to think and act more effectively." --DAVID ORRELL, PhD, mathematician and author of numerous books, including Truth or Beauty and Economyths
Best-selling author and business leader Ted Cadsby explores the insights of cognitive psychology, anthropology, biology, neuroscience, physics and philosophy to reveal the gap between how we typically tackle complex problems and what complexity actually requires of us. In an accessible and engaging style, he outlines ways to close the gap -- the strategic mental shifts that increase decision-making effectiveness. The bottom line? We need greater complexity in our thinking to match the increasing complexity in our world, and Cadsby shows us how. EDITORIAL REVIEWS
"... Cadsby has done us all a favour with this lucid tour of humanity's approach to thinking through the complexity of our world ... a helpful guide in how to think about our thinking." --ROGER MARTIN, Academic Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute and former Dean of the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, and author of Playing to Win "Brimming with insight ... a book of ambitious scope, explaining why we so often make poor decisions -- and how to do better. Professionals in all fields will find it highly valuable." --PHIL ROSENZWEIG, PhD, Professor of Strategy and International Business, IMD, and author of Left Brain, Right Stuff "... draws masterfully on a wide range of scientific findings ... a remarkable wake-up call ...." --ROBIN M. HOGARTH, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, and author of Educating Intuition "William James said we are only half awake. Ted Cadsby shows there is a lot of scientific truth wrapped inside that metaphorical truth." --PHILIP E. TETLOCK, PhD, Annenberg University Professor, University of Pennsylvania Psychology Department and Wharton School of Business, and author of Expert Political Judgment "A courageous synthesis of cognitive psychology, complexity theory and systems theory. Cadsby provides readers with practical implications for improving their decision-making process." --GARY KLEIN, PhD, Senior Scientist at MacroCognition LLC and author of Seeing What Others Don't "... distills the latest research in complexity theory and cognitive science, and shows how we can debug our 'mental software' to think and act more effectively." --DAVID ORRELL, PhD, mathematician and author of numerous books, including Truth or Beauty and Economyths
- GenresSelf HelpPsychology
402 pages, Paperback
First published March 13, 2014
3 people are currently reading
104 people want to read
About the author
Ted Cadsby
5 books5 followersTED CADSBY, MBA, CFA, ICD.D is a corporate director, consultant, speaker and bestselling author who has been extensively interviewed by the national media. Ted has held several prominent positions in the financial sector, including executive vice president of Retail Distribution at CIBC where he led a team of 18,000 employees domestically and internationally. Prior, he was president and CEO of CIBC Securities Inc., chairman of CIBC Trust Corp., and chairman of CIBC Private Investment Counsel Inc.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 8, 2014
The author has an incredible ability to open up new ideas for a reader by introducing concepts that are really well researched and explained in a way that anyone could understand and appreciate. This book has so many new insights, as other reviewers have mentioned, that it’s hard to do justice to the content of the book, or predict which thought-provoking story, experiment or philosophical discussion will have the biggest effect on any individual reader. There is something in it for just about every single person I can think of.
For example, the author creates interesting mini-dialogues between philosophers and psychologists to show their different takes on issues. Rather than simply describing their viewpoints, he has them speak and interact with one another in a way that brings out their differences and allows the reader to instantly appreciate the depth of their thinking. And he starts some of the key chapters with little stories that illustrate the main theme of the chapter, such as the tragic plane death of John F. Kennedy Jr., and the history of nutritional science, and a story I loved about the devil teasing someone by letting him struggle with the concept of truth.
This book is one that will stay in your collection forever because it is so dense with ideas, stories and new ways of looking at the world that are as important and interesting today as they will be decades from now. Although the main theme is “thinking smarter about complex problems,” the book covers so many fields of study and so many ideas, that it gets you thinking in a different ways about yourself, other people, the world, and what it means to be human. My only criticism is that it's a bit long, but still 5 stars for the quality of the content and the writing style which is very engaging.
For example, the author creates interesting mini-dialogues between philosophers and psychologists to show their different takes on issues. Rather than simply describing their viewpoints, he has them speak and interact with one another in a way that brings out their differences and allows the reader to instantly appreciate the depth of their thinking. And he starts some of the key chapters with little stories that illustrate the main theme of the chapter, such as the tragic plane death of John F. Kennedy Jr., and the history of nutritional science, and a story I loved about the devil teasing someone by letting him struggle with the concept of truth.
This book is one that will stay in your collection forever because it is so dense with ideas, stories and new ways of looking at the world that are as important and interesting today as they will be decades from now. Although the main theme is “thinking smarter about complex problems,” the book covers so many fields of study and so many ideas, that it gets you thinking in a different ways about yourself, other people, the world, and what it means to be human. My only criticism is that it's a bit long, but still 5 stars for the quality of the content and the writing style which is very engaging.
June 5, 2014
An inspirational, refreshing read, “Closing the Mind Gap” addresses the issue of our approach to solving complex problems, and how the cognitive shortcuts we tend to make are often ill-suited to the types of problems we face in today’s world.
Ted Cadsby writes in a practical, easy-to-understand style, providing insights into the many cognitive traps to which we are all susceptible - and how to avoid them. His innovative, refreshingly clear approach draws on insights from cognitive psychology, anthropology, biology, neuroscience, physics and philosophy.
“Closing the Mind Gap” shows us that change really is possible if we think about the world in a different way. Ted Cadsby explains his concepts with clarity and philosophical depth, providing a wealth of practical advice and anecdotes that take the reader on a very clear, logical journey through the theory behind the gap that exists between how we typically tackle complex problems and what complexity actually requires of us.
I have found that this concept can easily be applied to my own life and am still surprising myself with the new clarity of thought this book has afforded me. “Closing the Mind Gap” is engaging and superbly written - so much so that it is hard not to get excited about the possibility of change. I strongly recommend this book to anyone keen to close their own mind gap in their everyday lives.
Ted Cadsby writes in a practical, easy-to-understand style, providing insights into the many cognitive traps to which we are all susceptible - and how to avoid them. His innovative, refreshingly clear approach draws on insights from cognitive psychology, anthropology, biology, neuroscience, physics and philosophy.
“Closing the Mind Gap” shows us that change really is possible if we think about the world in a different way. Ted Cadsby explains his concepts with clarity and philosophical depth, providing a wealth of practical advice and anecdotes that take the reader on a very clear, logical journey through the theory behind the gap that exists between how we typically tackle complex problems and what complexity actually requires of us.
I have found that this concept can easily be applied to my own life and am still surprising myself with the new clarity of thought this book has afforded me. “Closing the Mind Gap” is engaging and superbly written - so much so that it is hard not to get excited about the possibility of change. I strongly recommend this book to anyone keen to close their own mind gap in their everyday lives.
May 31, 2014
What an amazing book! This is the one I am recommending to all my friends this year.
The more confident we are in our thinking, the more likely we are to be doing it wrong. Our brains do not function optimally in the modern world: they have problems with ambiguity, probability, filtering information, and looking for missing data. We tend to jump to conclusions and overrate intuition.
Here's a quick example of how our brains fail:
Are there more words ending in “ing,” like “running,” or words whose second last letter is “n,” as in “friend”? Our immediate reaction is that, as we can think of lots of words ending in "ing," it must be the former. But look again.
Give yourself an edge, read this book more than once.
The more confident we are in our thinking, the more likely we are to be doing it wrong. Our brains do not function optimally in the modern world: they have problems with ambiguity, probability, filtering information, and looking for missing data. We tend to jump to conclusions and overrate intuition.
Here's a quick example of how our brains fail:
Are there more words ending in “ing,” like “running,” or words whose second last letter is “n,” as in “friend”? Our immediate reaction is that, as we can think of lots of words ending in "ing," it must be the former. But look again.
Give yourself an edge, read this book more than once.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews