Annie Duke on Improving Transparency in Corporate Cultures
Philadelphia, PA, (PRWEB) September 04, 2013 -- Renowned professional poker player, author and organizational coach Annie Duke provided her analysis of corporate cultures through the lens of decision-making and transparency. Duke writes:
“When I am asked by executives what the single best strategy for improving critical thinking and decision making skills in their employees is, my answer is to create a company culture in which it is safe to honestly assess the decisions of oneself and others. If employees fear blame, ridicule and being undermined for the admitting of their mistakes, then they won’t admit to them - much less learn from them. If there is no promoting of transparent exchange of ideas and critique then cognitive bias is essentially promoted in its place.”
Duke continues with some examples from companies doing it “wrong:” “The senior employees set a competitive tone where an honest exchange of ideas and opinions was not promoted and undermining others to build up oneself was the norm.”
However, Duke says, this issue is common in all industries, especially poker. “It may seem odd to those outside of poker, but there are these same cultural issues within the professional poker world. Poker players cluster together, forming friend groups that in many ways act like microcosmic companies. Each friend group has a different culture, some that encourage the honest exchange of ideas and strategies, and some that encourage competitive behavior amongst peers, with each person trying to protect his or her own ego - often in sacrifice of the long-term goal of becoming a better player.”
Though this is a wide-reaching and detrimental issue to the long-term success of an organization, Duke continues on to say that with modesty, transparency, and encouragement, it is fixable. “Peer groups that encourage honest critique and transparent exchange of ideas create better players (and I think happier ones) in the long run…Being able to admit to our mistakes without fear so that we can learn from them is the path to efficiency and effectiveness.”
To read more of Annie Duke’s opinions, visit http://www.annieduke.com/blog.
About Annie Duke
Annie Duke has a strong track record of success in the world of poker. She first burst onto the scene at the 1994 World Series of Poker, where she cashed in three events included making the final three tables of the Main Event. A decade later, she won her first WSOP bracelet and in 2010 became the NBC National Heads-Up Champion bested runner-up, Erik Seidel. Duke has appeared on Celebrity Apprentice and tutored Hollywood A-listers including Ben Affleck and Matt Damon on the finer points of the game of poker. She is also the author of three books on poker: Decide to Play Great Poker; Heads-Up Tournament Poker; and The Middle Zone. She also authored an autobiography How I Raised, Folded, Bluffed, Flirted, Cursed, and Won Millions at the World Series of Poker.
Jennifer Sarver, (512) 879-0992, [email protected]
Share this article