by Rick Nason, PhD, CFA
Partner, RSD Solutions Inc.
Steven Johnson, in his book “Where Good Ideas Come From”[1], outlines the academic work of Robert Thatcher a brain scientist at the University of South Florida. In essence, Dr. Thatcher’s work shows that “the more disorganized your brain is, the smarter you are.”
This somewhat counterintuitive result actually makes a lot of sense if you consider the world to be a complex place (complex again in the scientific sense of the world). In a world with connected systems, feedback loops, non-linear effects, and unknown unknowns, having a highly rational and organized brain can be a handicap. A highly rational and organized brain is ideal for a complicated world (again using complicated in the scientific sense of the world), but as my recent RMA article[2] argued, the world is not complicated but instead it is complex. In a complex world, a disorganized brain is free to wonder and wander, which in turn is much better at making new and novel connections that turn out to be “smart”.
In risk, we all too often try to be highly organized and rational. Highly organized and rational however do not jive with the complex world we find ourselves in.
[1] For more on this check out the link: http://tinyurl.com/3orxum3
[2] To see this RMA article check out the link: http://tinyurl.com/4abuawb
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