Thinking Fast and Slow

More and more of us are facing situations in our work life and our home life where our current base of experience and comfortable ways of working and living are being challenged. We find we are needing to rewire our brains to form new habits and change the way we think, which is actually much harder than it sounds.

Psychologists have found that in our current work mode, we spend most of our time in what is called System 1 or Thinking Fast. System 1 operates automatically and quickly, with little or no effort, and with almost no sense of voluntary control. For instance, you can’t stop your brain from completing 2+2=4. System 1 thinking includes all kinds of things we do “automatically” like checking for messages, or driving a car on a familiar route.

Alternatively, System 2 or Thinking Slow, operates with intention and allocates its effort to mental activities that demand it. It’s for moments when you need to get outside of your own head and do things that require focus or directing attention to a particularly difficult task like parking the car in a narrow space or solving a challenging math problem like multiplying 17 x 24.

Our System 1 knowledge base incorporates routine experiences and work habits, and it’s valuable to us in helping to solve countless little problems throughout the day without wearing us out. On the other hand, System 2 is valuable to us because it’s how we grow. It’s how we incorporate different points of reference and see old problems in new ways.

It’s important to not rely too heavily on System 1 or else our System 2 thinking becomes lazy and unquestionably accepts whatever System 1 gives it, which may include old and outdated assumptions that can lead to dangerous biases in our System 2 thinking.

We need to constantly be refreshing the knowledge base —so our System 2 thinking doesn’t become faulty, out of practice, and unavailable to us when we need it the most, like in a crisis, or stressed out over a deadline.

So what can we do about this? The way to overcome constantly defaulting to System 1 is by creating a regular practice of questioning automatic assumptions of all kinds, in all kinds of circumstances, stressful and non-stressful. By routinely asking questions like, “is there another way to think about this?” Or “what if we tried this another way?” you become better prepared for those inevitable moments of crisis or stress. Your decision making will be more purpose-driven and it will be more likely to incorporate multiple perspectives and long-term considerations.

By being curious, avoiding default thinking and questioning assumptions, we are rewarded with new perspectives and new ideas that are potentially insights into solving intractable problems, finding agreement where none had existed or overcoming psychological barriers to success. It can be a source of creativity and innovation, and often reveals previously unnoticed solutions that just make a whole lot of sense.

We ignore our Systems 2 thinking at our own peril.