Podcast Of The Week: McRaney Thinks Even Billionaires Aren’t So Smart

David McRaney’s a household name around here. I’ve got several years worth of regular check-ins on his work if you’re interested. But if you don’t know him, this is easily one of the best interviews I’ve ever heard him give. 

Bogumil Baranowski had McRaney on the Talking Billions podcast – so of course the financial decision-making stuff is all on the table. But they get into a fair amount of life philosophy too. If judgment and decision-making are the water in which we all swim, this is a conversation of fun-to-follow (thought) bubbles. 

A few examples from my notes (since some of these will likely become posts themselves):

• How confirmation bias is often misrepresented. 

• Where and why logical fallacies and heuristics limit our thinking (in good, bad, and evolutionary ways)

• The Will Storr question to open your mind to change

• The dance between our emotional and rational brains (and why you need both partners to be active)

• The meaning of “genius” (which is the topic of McRaney’s next book, and how nobody can really define the word)

How we talk about thinking matters. In my professional work, which involves a lot of helping people to see options and make choices that best resonate with their life, these ideas are everything. They’re bigger than planning, and land somewhere between therapy and coaching. It’s a squishy area. It’s a valuable area (in that people want to be seen, heard, and helped at this level – it’s just… more human feeling). 

McRaney’s been helping me, via his books, podcasts, and blogs, to understand the ways all sorts of diverse professionals use the academic theory around decision-making in applied practice.  

Let this interview help you too. Thanks Bogumil for doing this one. Enjoy!