Oct 7, 2023
For many of us, planning can be an area of opportunity. We underestimate how much time something will take and how much time we will have available for something, particularly regarding project completion. However, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky explained why we do this, and we will tell you what we can do about it.
Kahneman and Tversky call this phenomenon the Planning Fallacy. Our optimism about our future selves and the abilities and resources available causes it. For this reason, it rarely occurs on a tight timeline; we are far less optimistic about our right-now selves. We know we can’t do it right now.
There are a few reasons besides optimism that cause this problem, too. For example, we tend to focus on certain details and ignore others (Focalism). Or we might be wishful thinking. We want to finish the project by then, so why not pick that date?
In this episode, we explore why so many of us are victims of the Planning Fallacy and what we can do about it in our own work and the work of our organizations. If you listen to this podcast, your future self will thank you.
Here are some other key moments in the discussion:
- 04:02 We introduce the idea of the Planning Fallacy and explain what it is and how it affects us.
- 08:15 We discuss why it’s different when considering something with a short timeline, meaning an imminent due date.
- 11:10 Colin shares an example he frequently encounters on Emotional Signature projects, and why it isn’t his fault they miss their optimistic deadlines.
- 19:36 Colin points out that different departments organizationally can contribute to the problem and that these departments should learn The Power of Saying NO.
- 21:29 Ryan shares more contributing factors to why we victimize our future selves with the Planning Fallacy.
- 29:42 We share practical advice about what you can do to ensure that your past self doesn’t get your future self in a bind.
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