4 Ways to Open Your Eyes to Reality

Margaret Heffernan’s new book — Willful Blindness: Why We Ignore the Obvious at Our Peril — couldn’t be timelier. It tackles a phenomenon that underlies many of the most outrageous disasters of recent years, from Enron to the massive fraud perpetrated by Bernie Madoff: The refusal face facts.

Heffernan nicely blends personal stories, headline events, and scientific research to paint a richly textured portrait of the ways we succumb to willful ignorance. Fortunately, we’re not hostages of our propensity to ignore reality. We can do something about it. Here are four ways to keep your head out of the sand.

1. Actively seek disconfirmation. ” Outsiders – whether you call them Cassandras, devil’s advocates, dissidents, mentors, troublemakers, fools, or coaches – are essential to any leader’s ability to see,” Heffernan writes.
2. Get some sleep. Tired people make mistakes – bad ones.  “Companies that measure work by hours could make themselves smarter by the simple act of measuring contribution by output and rewarding those who go home.”
3. Acknowledge your own biases and pursue diversity. “Diversity, in this context,” Heffernan writes, “isn’t a form of political correctness but an insurance against…blindness.”
4. Beware easy answers to complex problems. “The best decisions require testing, painful discussion, dialogue, thinking without banisters.”

“When we confront facts and fears,” says Heffernan, “we achieve real power and unleash our capacity to change.” Check out more of Margaret Heffernan’s work on her web site.