Eyes Wide Open: How to Make Smart Decisions in a Confusing World. Noreena Hertz

      

      

Copyright

      William Collins

      An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

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      Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

       www.WilliamCollinsBooks.com

      First published in Great Britain by William Collins 2013

      Copyright © Noreena Hertz 2013

      The right of Noreena Hertz to be identified as the author

      of this work has been asserted by her in accordance

      with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

      A catalogue record of this book is

      available from the British Library

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

      Source ISBN: 9780007467105

      Ebook Edition © September 2013 ISBN: 9780007467112

      Version: 2014-08-26

Dedication

      To Danny Cohen – the best decision I ever made

      Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

       Copyright

       Dedication

       THIS DECISION WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE

       STEP ONE: Get to Grips with a World in Hyper-Drive

       KEEP YOUR EYES WIDE OPEN

       STEP TWO: See the Tiger and the Snake

       STEP THREE: Don’t Be Scared of the Nacirema

       BECOME YOUR OWN CUSTODIAN OF TRUTH

       STEP FOUR: Ditch Deference and Challenge Experts

       STEP FIVE: Learn from Shepherds and Shop Assistants

       GO DIGITAL … WITH CAUTION

       STEP SIX: Co-Create and Listen In

       STEP SEVEN: Scrutinise Sock Puppets and Screen Your Sources

       DEVELOP YOUR SURVIVAL SKILLS

       STEP EIGHT: Overcome Your Maths Anxiety

       STEP NINE: Monitor Your Emotional Thermostat

       SHAKE THINGS UP

       STEP TEN: Embrace Dissent and Encourage Difference

       EPILOGUE

       Notes

       List of Searchable Terms

       Acknowledgements

       Praise

       About the Author

       By the Same Author

       About the Publisher

THIS DECISION WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE

STEP ONE

      Get to Grips with a World in Hyper-Drive

      It’s Monday morning.

      In Washington, the President of the United States is sitting in the Oval Office assessing whether or not to order a military strike on Iran.

      In Idaho, Warren Buffett is deciding whether to sell his Coca-Cola shares or buy more.

      In Madrid, Maria Gonzalez, a mother, is trying to work out whether to let her baby continue crying until he falls asleep, or pick him up and soothe him.

      I am sitting by my father’s bedside in hospital, trying to decide whether I should let the doctor operate, or wait another twenty-four hours.

      We face momentous decisions with important consequences throughout our lives. Difficult and challenging problems that we are given the sole responsibility to solve.

      On top of this, we have to make up to 10,000 trivial decisions every single day,1 227 just about food.2 Caffeinated or decaf? Small, medium, large or extra large? Colombian, Ecuadorian, Ethiopian? Hazelnut, vanilla or unflavoured? Cream or milk? Brown sugar or sweetener?

      If you make the wrong choice when it comes to your coffee, it doesn’t matter very much. You make a face and move on.

      But make the wrong choice when it comes to your finances, your health or your work, and you could end up sicker or poorer, or lose your job. And if your decisions relate to others – your parents, your children, your country or your staff – the choices you make can irreversibly impact the direction their lives will take too. Not only today, but in the months and years ahead.

      Errors in decision-making lead young people