The Decision Corner

In this episode of The Decision Corner podcast, Brooke is joined by Eric Johnson, director of the Center for Decision Sciences at Columbia University and author of the upcoming release, The Elements of Choice. Johnson’s expertise lies in how we make decisions, but also how those decisions are influenced by how our choices are perceived. This conversation details important topics from the book, such as what choice architecture is, and how it relates to choice engines. It also dives into how, if we are aware of how choice architecture works, we can actually use it to our benefit, and make better decisions. Some of the topics discussed include:

- Differentiating choice architecture from nudges

- What are designers, and how do they influence others' decisions?

- Assembled preferences and how they influence our decision making

- How choice engines differ from choice architecture

- The gradual convergence of choice architecture and choice engine design

- Using choice architecture to our benefit, and to improve or create new interventions

In this episode of The Decision Corner, Brooke Struck sits down with Cathy O’Neil, CEO of ORCAA and author of the New York Times bestseller Weapons of Math Destruction. Having studied and worked at some of the most prestigious universities in the world, including Harvard, MIT, Barnard College, and Columbia, O’Neil has been outspoken about the social risks of algorithms.

In this conversation, O’Neil dives into some of the “invisible” problems that algorithms pose for society, and how decision-makers can create more responsible algorithms to better outcomes for society.

This episode includes discussions about:

- The political nature of algorithms

- How algorithms don’t predict the future, but create conditions for future events to occur

- How algorithms influence predictive policing

- How these biases invade hiring platforms and processes

- The purpose of algorithms, which tend to serve those who create them

- How policymakers and decision-makers can generate more responsibility among technicians

In this episode of The Decision Corner, Brooke is joined by Karl Moore, Oxford University Associate Fellow and McGill University Professor, and author of the upcoming book, OK Boomer: Working With Millennials and Generation Z. With 12 years of sales and marketing management experience, Karl has been named one of the top four business professors in Canada, and one of the world’s greatest business thinkers by Business Strategy Review. He has also interviewed hundreds of leaders for his research on extroverted, ambiverted, and introverted leadership styles, including leaders like Justin Trudeau, Muhammad Yunus, and Sir Richard Branson.

This conversation applies Karl’s management knowledge to intergenerational workforces, including topics such as:

- The modern and postmodern worldview that differentiates Boomers and Millennials

- The impact of worldview on work style, including our perception of truth

- Why Boomers should make room for empathy in their workplaces

- Why some life lessons become less relevant as we age

- The six lessons for senior executives from OK Boomer

- Casual workplace connection in the age of WFH

In this episode of The Decision Corner podcast, Brooke is joined by Ryan Stelzer, co-founder of Strategy of Mind and co-author of the upcoming book, Think, Talk, Create. Stelzer’s expertise lies in management consultancy and pulling in aspects of psychology, philosophy and cognitive science to optimize the workplace. This conversation details important topics from the book, such as the importance of humanizing the workplace again, psychological safety and the consequences of taking a numbers-only approach. It also dives into small changes that individuals can incorporate into their daily lives to promote change. Some of the topics we discuss include:

How the over-emphasis on numbers in organizations has caused us to de-humanize the workplace

The issues surrounding short-term value-oriented decision making

The importance of practicing active inquiry at all levels of the company hierarchy

The secret to financial success and how it lies in psychologically safe organizations

How psychological safety relies on all stakeholders to work together

How to create a healthy blend of values within an organization

How a ledger-only approach can limit your upward mobility

Kate Laffan, Marie Curie Fellow at University College Dublin, explains why we struggle to reach the goals we set for ourselves: the intention-behaviour gap. One of the ways this gap manifests is in our environmentally-conscious behaviour. We can work personally and collectively to better align our behaviours to our intentions, and make the world a little better off by doing so.

This podcast delves deep into changes we can bring about on an individual and organizational level to benefit the environment, including topics such as:

Key behaviours that we can change, such as meat consumption, air travel, and our housing

Reducing intention-behaviour gaps on the organizational level, through strategies that include prosocial incentives, green defaults, and decision aids

Creating change on an individual level through implementation intentions, monitoring, and reflection

Using COVID-19 induced changes in work environments as opportunities for behavioural change

In this episode of the podcast, Brooke is joined by Dr. Onye Nnorom, president of the Black Physicians’ Association of Ontario and an experienced physician who helps people understand how factors of racism impact marginalized groups, especially in the context of health. Also known as “Dr. O” on her podcast “Race, Health, and Happiness,” the two discuss racialized communities’ experiences with the health system, vaccines, strategies to build trust, and optimism for the future. Supported with important real-world examples of systemic shortcomings and effective ways to increase trust within Black communities, the conversation explores COVID-19 through a much-needed racialized lens.

Some specific topics include:

Drivers behind low vaccine uptake rates within Black communities in Canada.

The importance of lived experience and intergenerational wisdom.

The history of Black communities being exploited by public health systems.

The need for open discussions around vaccine distrust, rather than forcing uptake.

Integrating cultural humility into all levels of the healthcare system.

The three stages of vaccine rollout and how they’ve been experienced by Black communities in Canada.

Barriers that prevent respect for, and acknowledgment of, racialized intergenerational wisdom from the dominant culture.

Strategies to increase Black communities’ trust in the public health system.

How to navigate difficult discussions on vaccine hesitancy.

UCL Professor of Behavioral Science Dr Lasana Harris joins Brooke for this episode of the podcast. In a fascinating discussion that questions the ‘unconscious’ nature of what most psychologists would refer to as unconscious bias, Dr Harris draws from research in the fields of neuroscience and social psychology to help explain why human beings experience bias, how it manifests in our behaviour, and what we can do to overcome it, beyond ‘box-checking’ debias training.

Some of the things discussed include…

The neuroscience behind the origins of our bias. Hint: it relates to our natural ‘fight or flight’ response.

Why we are often aware of our own bias, but tend to attribute it to the wrong factors.

Debiasing - why most bias trainings provided by organisations are done to fulfill legal obligations or improve corporate image, and how they can be improved.

Embracing our individual responsibility to educate ourselves around bias while acknowledging that systemic change is required to address the environmental factors that fuel it.

The ‘statue debate’ and whether cancel culture is erasing potential lessons from the past, or a sign of progress in the direction of a more inclusive society.

In this episode of the podcast, Brooke is joined by David Rand, professor of Management Science and Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT. Together, the two explore David’s research on misinformation, trying to understand why people believe fake news, why it is spread in the first place, and what people can do about it. Brooke and David also discuss real life applications of strategies to prevent misinformation, especially as it pertains to social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and news outlets.

Specific topics include:

The categories of fake news, including blatant falsehoods, hyperpartisan news, and health misinformation

The roles that bots, algorithms, and humans play in the dissemination of fake news

How algorithms fail to analyze why people pay attention to certain information

The tension between our preferences and our limited cognitive abilities

How our beliefs can be tied to our social identities

How media platforms can do create healthier ecosystems for information processing

Platforms’ imperative to be proactive, rather than playing catch up with misinformation

And does controlling the spread of misinformation infringe on the freedom of speech?

In this episode of the podcast, Brooke is joined by Roger Martin, an experienced strategy advisor, former Dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, and co-author of Creating Great Choices. Together, the two explore business models and how we can make great choices when faced with incongruity. Supported with real-world examples, the discussion addresses how we should move forward when we don’t get the outcomes we hoped for.

Some specific topics include:

Our disinclination toward compromise and how to get around making “either/or” decisions

Bob Young and his company Red Hat, who took two unappealing choices and built a superior model amidst the free software movement

The ladder of inference that leads us to focus on monoliths

How the Toronto International Film Festival overcame the power of monoliths and became the most important film festival in the world

The three steps for integrative thinking, an alternative to accepting polarized situations

How Roger transformed the Rotman School of Management into one of the highest-ranked business schools in research

How people can work toward integrative thinking through their everyday choices

André Picard, renowned Canadian health journalist, converses with Brooke about the value of clear public health communication and the importance of teasing out truthful information from the tangle of misinformation. Picard discusses the responsibilities of stakeholders in curbing the COVID infodemic, from publishers and writers to readers.

Several thought-provoking ideas explored in this podcast: