Transcript Chapter 7 - People Server at UNCW

Information Overload: Too Much of
a Good Thing
What is information overload?
 Information overload occurs when the rate of
information flow into a system and/or the complexity
of that information exceed the system’s processing
capacity.
SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM:
THE INFORMATION AVALANCHE
What is the scope of this problem for this generation?
 This generation is more besieged by information than
any that preceded it, and perhaps more so than any all
previous generations combined.
CONSEQUENCES: THE DOWNSIDE
OF INFORMATION
What are the four main consequences of information
overload and why are they relevant to group decision
making and problem solving?
1. It impairs critical thinking.
2. It promotes indecisiveness.
3. It causes information bulimia.
4. It produces a kind of group attention deficit
disorder.
COPING WITH INFORMATION
OVERLOAD: WRESTLING THE BEAST
How can you cope with information overload?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Screening the information, separate the useful from the
useless
Shutting off technology, no cell phones or emails
Specializing, knowing more about less
Becoming selective, on a need-to-know basis by
prioritizing
Limiting the search, allow time to reflect and evaluate
information
Narrowing the search, looking only for credible
information
INFORMATION UNDERLOAD: POOR
SHARING
What is information underload?
 Information underload refers to an insufficient
amount of information (inadequate input) available to
a group for decision-making purposes.
 If information is not shared in the group, it can be a
disaster.
 Often, it can be a problem of too much closedness in a
system and the solution is to open up the lines of
communication.
MINDSETS: CRITICAL THINKING
FROZEN SOLID
What is meant by mindsets and how does it relate to
decision making?
 Perceptual mindsets are psychological and cognitive
predispositions to see the world in a particular way.
 They interfere with effective group decision making
and problem.
 Our minds are set to view the world in a particular way
even if this is inappropriate.
CONFIRMATION BIAS: ONE-SIDED
INFORMATION SEARCHES
What is confirmation bias?
 It is the strong tendency to seek information that
confirms our beliefs and attitudes and to ignore
information that contradicts our currently held beliefs
and attitudes.
 Confirmation bias is a single problematic aspect of
human reasoning, because our bias is to search for
information that supports our point of view and this
interferes with our problem solving and decision
making.
COMBATING CONFIRMATION BIAS:
A PLAN
How can you combat confirmation bias?
Seek disconfirming information and evidence. Someone
performs an error-correction function for the group.
2. Vigorously present disconfirming evidence to the group.
Assert yourself and be persistent with this evidence.
3. Play devil’s advocate. Challenge and question the other
side.
4. Gather allies to help challenge confirmation bias. Get
other members to be as open-minded as you are.
1.
COLLECTIVE INFERENTIAL ERROR:
UNCRITICAL THINKING
What is an inference?
 Inferences are conclusions about the unknown based one




what is known.
They are guesses varying by degrees from educated to
uneducated depending on the quantity and quality of
information on which the inferences are based.
Our minds go beyond the information given.
You draw inferences from previous experiences, factual
data, and predispositions.
The problem with inferences is, we assume they are facts.
That will hurt our group decisions.
GROUPTHINK: CRITICAL THINKING
IS SUSPENDED ANIMATION
What is groupthink?
 A mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply
involved in a cohesive in-group, when the members striving for
unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise
alternative courses of action
 The more cohesive a group is, the greater the danger of
groupthink.
 Critical thinking and decision making are sacrificed when
members are overly concerned with reaching agreement,
avoiding conflict and preserving friendly relations in the group.
 Groupthink is not the cause of every decision-making fiasco.
Other things such as information overload, mindsets, inferences,
etc.,cause poor decision blunders.
IDENTIFICATION OF GROUPTHINK:
MAIN SYMPTOMS
What are some symptoms of groupthink?
1.
Overestimation of the group’s power and morality
2. Closed-mindedness
3. Pressures toward uniformity
PREVENTING GROUPTHINK:
PROMOTING VIGILANCE
How do you prevent groupthink?
Recognize groupthink when it first begins
2. Minimize status differences
3. Seek information that challenges emerging
concurrence
4. Develop norms that legitimizes disagreement
1.
“Being There”
VIDEO CASE STUDY
“Thirteen Days” – Scene 1
VIDEO CASE STUDY
“Thirteen Days” – Scene 2
VIDEO CASE STUDY
“Thirteen Days” – Scene 3
VIDEO CASE STUDY