Comments on: The Pitfalls of Perception, and Other Interesting Links http://www.businesspundit.com/the-pitfalls-of-perception-and-other-interesting-links/ Entrepreneurship, Startup Companies and Business Philosophy Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:54:25 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Rob http://www.businesspundit.com/the-pitfalls-of-perception-and-other-interesting-links/comment-page-1/#comment-2394 Rob Sun, 24 Jun 2007 12:12:53 +0000 http://www.businesspundit.com.php5-6.websitetestlink.com/?p=3211#comment-2394 David, That's a good point. I'm surprised that M&A deals aren't scrutinized more, given that study after study has shown that the majority of them are bad decisions. Laurence, That sentence probably should have read "Large corporations WASTE fortunes..." given that they really aren't any more effective (as a whole) than small companies. David,
That’s a good point. I’m surprised that M&A deals aren’t scrutinized more, given that study after study has shown that the majority of them are bad decisions.

Laurence,
That sentence probably should have read “Large corporations WASTE fortunes…” given that they really aren’t any more effective (as a whole) than small companies.

]]> By: laurence haughton http://www.businesspundit.com/the-pitfalls-of-perception-and-other-interesting-links/comment-page-1/#comment-2393 laurence haughton Sat, 23 Jun 2007 17:08:53 +0000 http://www.businesspundit.com.php5-6.websitetestlink.com/?p=3211#comment-2393 Ironic that a Forbes article on the pitfall of perception (or the cognitive bias that makes us dumb) would include the sentence "Large corporations spend fortunes on risk-management departments to deal with this developmental deficiency." They do? How about some proof? Okay... and if they do how does "spending a fortune" translate into doing something effective? There's plenty of big company research that says the big are no smarter (for all their spending) and just as prone to the biases that cause terrible decision making. But of course one bias is the perception that the "big" are that way out of intent rather than luck. Ironic that a Forbes article on the pitfall of perception (or the cognitive bias that makes us dumb) would include the sentence “Large corporations spend fortunes on risk-management departments to deal with this developmental deficiency.”
They do? How about some proof? Okay… and if they do how does “spending a fortune” translate into doing something effective? There’s plenty of big company research that says the big are no smarter (for all their spending) and just as prone to the biases that cause terrible decision making. But of course one bias is the perception that the “big” are that way out of intent rather than luck.

]]> By: david foster http://www.businesspundit.com/the-pitfalls-of-perception-and-other-interesting-links/comment-page-1/#comment-2392 david foster Thu, 21 Jun 2007 20:58:41 +0000 http://www.businesspundit.com.php5-6.websitetestlink.com/?p=3211#comment-2392 Yeah, there's probably a danger that devils advocacy will kill innovation. But there are at least two circumstances in which devils advocates should always be required: 1)Mergers & acquisitions. These seem to bring out the corporate mating instinct, and when people are in heat to do a deal, common sense often goes by the wayside. 2)Big, long-term product development projects (and also internal IT projects), especially those that have names like "the X project." These often become sacred cows and continue long after it should be apparent that they are either infeasible or not very valuable. Yeah, there’s probably a danger that devils advocacy will kill innovation. But there are at least two circumstances in which devils advocates should always be required:

1)Mergers & acquisitions. These seem to bring out the corporate mating instinct, and when people are in heat to do a deal, common sense often goes by the wayside.

2)Big, long-term product development projects (and also internal IT projects), especially those that have names like “the X project.” These often become sacred cows and continue long after it should be apparent that they are either infeasible or not very valuable.

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