In this episode of the Idea to Value podcast, we speak with renowned Science journalist David Robson, about his new book “The Intelligence Trap: Revolutionise your Thinking and Make Wiser Decisions”.
We speak about what leads highly intelligent people to wrong conclusions, or why they sometimes stick with ideas when evidence suggests these are wrong.
Topics covered in this episode:
- 00:01:15 – David’s background in science Journalism, and his it led him to find examples of eminent scientists who believed in incorrect theories
- 00:03:15 – What is the intelligence trap?
- 00:05:30 – The need for checks and balances in thinking, even for highly intelligent people.
- 00:06:30 – Cognitive Miserliness and Motivated Reasoning
- 00:08:45 – The Dunning Kruger effect and Earned Dogmatism (Our self-perceptions of expertise mean we have gained the right to be closed-minded and to ignore other points of view)
- 00:10:00 – The curse of expertise
- 00:11:45 – How companies can suffer from the Intelligence Trap, when new ideas don’t fit with what already exists in the firm
- 00:14:15 – How to perform a personal cognitive autopsy, and why it makes sense to speak to yourself in the third person
- 00:16:15 – If a leader shows humility, this can be contagious to others in your company
- 00:19:00 – How to speak with someone who isn’t willing to change their mind, by appealing to a different identity of theirs
Links mentioned in this episode:
- David Robson’s website: https://davidrobson.me/
- The Intelligence Trap book: https://amzn.to/3wZOXf0
- David’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/d_a_robson
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Nick Skillicorn
Chief Editor, Founder & CEO at Improvides Innovation Consulting
Creativity & Innovation expert: I help individuals and companies build their creativity and innovation capabilities, so you can develop the next breakthrough idea which customers love. Chief Editor of Ideatovalue.com and Founder / CEO of Improvides Innovation Consulting. Coach / Speaker / Author / TEDx Speaker / Voted as one of the most influential innovation bloggers.
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