The document discusses how human thinking can be influenced by cognitive biases according to Daniel Kahneman's book "Thinking, Fast and Slow". It explores System 1 thinking, which is fast, instinctive, and prone to errors, and System 2 thinking, which is slower and more deliberate. The author provides examples of cognitive biases that can affect software developers, such as the availability heuristic and anchoring bias, and advises engaging System 2 thinking to make better professional decisions through constant learning, collaboration, and applying established processes.
4. Your Thinking: A Tale of Two Systems…
System 1:
fast, instinctive, emotional, subconscious
System 2:
slower, deliberate, reasoning, conscious
14/08/2014 @danielbryantuk
10. Bob is a single male in his 20’s who is bright,
quiet, likes science fiction and fantasy, and
avoids interacting with people in the real world
• Computer programmer?
• Computer programmer who plays MMORPG?
14/08/2014 @danielbryantuk
11. Your Thinking: A Tale of Two Systems…
System 1:
fast, instinctive, emotional, subconscious
Rapid, associative, and has systemic errors
System 2:
slower, deliberate, reasoning, conscious
Lazy, and causal (not statistical)
14/08/2014 @danielbryantuk
13. Availability Heuristic
“If something can be recalled,
it must be important”
‘Hipster-itis’ e.g. RDBMS aren’t web-scale…
…and “alpha geeks” tend to be quite opinionated
14/08/2014 @danielbryantuk
19. Optimistic Bias
“People tend to be overconfident,
believing that they have substantial
control in their lives”
Big up-front design…
vs ‘last responsible moment’…
14/08/2014 @danielbryantuk
21. Optimism: Think Professionally
• Remove uncertainty early (bit.ly/1mAb6o4)
– “Patterns of Effective Delivery” by Dan North
• Review (and retrospect) progress regularly
• Architectural knowledge is vital
• Software is inherently collaborative…
14/08/2014 @danielbryantuk
23. Anchoring Bias
“Common tendency to rely too heavily
on the first piece of information offered
when making decisions. ”
How does your manager ask for estimates?
…is it an unbiased question?
14/08/2014 @danielbryantuk
25. Anchoring: Think Professionally
• Learn to say no…
– Provide explanations and alternatives
• Make sure User Stories are well-defined
– Collaboration
• Apply PERT estimations (bit.ly/1mGzuoe)
14/08/2014 @danielbryantuk
26. Read Your Way to Tech Lead (?)
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