Thinking seriously – how cognitive awareness drives strategy

David Backwell | Founder, CRO and Lead Consultant | Triliteral | mail me |

Part 1 of 3

Thinking Seriously is a three-part series for anyone who suspects their brain might be quietly sabotaging them at work. Starting with thoughts – the architects of our decisions – then moving through emotions and behaviours, this series unpacks the invisible mechanics driving how we think, feel and act in the ambiguous chaos of modern business.

With a mix of cognitive science, practical tools, and gentle irreverence, I have looked at concepts that help people get out of their own way, turning everyday mind traps into opportunities for clearer thinking and better decisions.

The architects of our decisions

Thoughts are the architects of our decisions. More than that, thoughts are everything – quite literally. As Descartes put it, cogito ergo sum – I think, therefore I am. But this is just the headline version of Descartes’ true insight – Dubito ergo cogito, ergo sum – I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am.

It is the doubting of our thoughts that matters. Thoughts appear automatically – uninvited and often unchecked. Yet not every thought deserves our trust. Doubting a thought isn’t about endless second-guessing – it’s about pausing long enough to ask whether it’s useful, true or just an unexamined shortcut. In business, the failure to doubt our thoughts – whether they come as snap judgments, assumptions or overconfident conclusions – can send us stumbling into poor decisions and missed opportunities.

Let’s start off with an observation so simple it seems trite (as most very useful pieces of information end up seeming to us, until it is too late). Thoughts appear and disappear. Anyone who has meditated or tried a mindful practice will be familiar with this almost uncanny feeling. Poof – it appears in mind as if by magic. And then, like smoke, it disappears – we cannot catch the exact moment it is gone, but it has faded away.

It’s not a mystery where these thoughts come from – they are an integration of our senses and surroundings, memories, and so on. We are not too interested in the where (usually a boring question), but a blend of how and why. How much are we in control of our thoughts, and why do we think the way we do?

Automatic thinking

In the fast-paced, ambiguous world we live in, automatic thoughts are often the default. These are the snap judgments that emerge unconsciously, rooted in past experiences, biases and environmental triggers. They’re useful in immediate survival contexts (a tiger’s roar doesn’t warrant a deliberative meeting), but more than that, automatic thoughts often lead us astray.

• A judgment

A measurement where the scale is the human mind.

• Heuristics

Mental shortcuts that simplify decision-making by focusing on the most relevant information, often at the cost of accuracy or complexity.

• Confidence

The feeling of rightness attached to a thought or judgment.

We face two problems with automatic thoughts.

First is VUCA or BANI, or whatever new acronym they find to tell us the same idea: the world is vague, pressured and complex; confounding our ability to make sense. Indeed, the job of living is trying to make sense from noise. From the cacophonies around us, we make judgments – judgments being a measurement where the instrument is the human mind. These are often incomplete, biased, or frankly wrong. But with judgments, at least deciding to have a business meeting about the potential tiger is better than turning over the ethics of self-preservation while it consumes your extremities. 

Many of the judgments we make operate on heuristics – shortcuts that let us come to a complex decision relatively quickly and effortlessly. This is often done as a substitution.

Consider a South African favourite – is my neighbourhood safe? We seldom answer this question. Instead, we use the availability heuristic to answer a much easier question – have I heard of any recent crime in my area? The actual crime rate may not be as narrow as we hear.

The second problem…

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