Distancing: How Great Leaders Reframe to Make Better Decisions

This cogent survey by former Navy submarine captain Marquet (Turn the Ship Around) and organizational psychologist Gillespie offers business leaders advice on making informed decisions. The authors argue that “self immersion,” in which someone protects their ego and reputation, is a typical default in high-pressure, emotionally charged scenarios, but that people must instead operate from the perspective of “the distanced self” in order to make clear-sighted choices. They support their case with real-world examples, detailing several instances of self immersion that led to disastrous decision-making, such as when the captain and crew of Asiana Flight 214 made a series of poor choices leading to a crash that killed three passengers and injured dozens more in 2013. Elsewhere, they detail how an FBI negotiator used “temporal distancing” to talk down kidnappers and terrorists so they weren’t caught up in the the moment (“Imagine that ten years from now... we’re both happy. Now, let’s work our way back from there”). The authors include plenty of helpful exercises and reflection questions along the way. Readers looking for a new approach to decision-making will be challenged and inspired. (Aug.)