Summary:
This article examines the phenomenon of bounded awareness – when cognitive blinders prevent a person from seeing, seeking, using, or sharing highly relevant, easily accessible, and readily perceivable information during the decision-making process. The article uses Merck, (makers of the drug Vioxx – which now is known to have caused cardiovascular troubles in over 14% , and “serious problems” in another 2.5% of patients), as an example of how decision makers often overlook the obvious and suffer terrible consequences in the process.
Quote:
“Social science research has shown that without realizing it, decision makers ignore certain critical information. The information that life serves is not necessarily the information that one would order from the menu,” notes Dan Gilbert of Harvard University’s psychology department, “but like polite dinner guests and other victims of circumstance, people generally seem to accept what is offered rather than banging their flatware and demanding carrots.”
This article reminds me of the phrase, “I can’t see the forest for the trees.” Why do we sometimes sit idle when the information is right in front of us? Perhaps it was a break-down in the strategic plan. I wonder if the executives at Merck ignored their quality controls, or had poor controls in place. Was there effective management software in place, or was it simply a case of intentional misrepresentation?
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