Coming soon · Book Profile
Thinking and Reasoning_ A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
A concise survey of how cognitive psychology explains human thinking, reasoning, and decision making, showing why we are often biased yet broadly intelligent, and proposing a dual-process 'two minds' account.
A profile of this book is on the way.
What it’s about
Drawing on a lifetime of research begun under Peter Wason, Jonathan Evans offers a lucid tour through the modern psychology of thought: problem solving, hypothetical reasoning, decision making, deductive and probabilistic reasoning, the great rationality debate, and dual-process theory. He shows that most of our mental work happens automatically and unconsciously, that human reasoning is naturally belief-based rather than logical, and that systematic cognitive biases pervade judgment under uncertainty. Yet he resists the easy verdict that humans are simply irrational, situating laboratory errors within debates over normative standards, ecological validity, evolution, intelligence, and the architecture of two interacting minds. Accessible and example-rich, the book equips readers to understand both the failures and the extraordinary powers of human reasoning.
The through-line
- Who it’s for
- A curious reader who wants to understand how the human mind thinks, reasons, and decides—and why it so often goes wrong.
- The problem
- Human thinking is riddled with cognitive biases and reasoning errors that affect medicine, law, finance, and everyday choices. The reader feels uncertain about whether to trust their own intuitions and judgments.
- The plan
- Trace the history from introspection and behaviorism to cognitive psychology.
- Learn how problem solving, insight, and expertise work.
- Understand hypothesis testing, causal and counterfactual reasoning.
- Examine decision making, probability judgment, and their biases.
- Study deductive and Bayesian reasoning and the rationality debate.
- The payoff
- The reader recognizes their own biases and knows when to slow down and reason. · They interpret evidence, probabilities, and risks more critically. · They appreciate both the powers and limits of human intelligence.
See our guide
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Additional reading
- Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock Potential in Yourself and Your Organization · Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey
This is the authors' previous book, which provides a deep dive into the ITC framework that is presented as a key tool in Chapter 6 and used by the fledgling DDOs in Chapter 7.
- In Over Our Heads: The Mental Demands of Modern Life · Robert Kegan
This book lays out the foundational theory of adult development and mental complexity that underpins the entire DDO concept, explaining the 'adaptive gap' that DDOs are designed to address.
- Mindset: The New Psychology of Success · Carol Dweck
The book explicitly references Dweck's work, contrasting the 'fixed mindset' (prevalent in ordinary organizations) with the 'growth mindset' that is fundamental to a DDO's culture.
- Organizational Culture and Leadership · Edgar H. Schein
Mentioned in the book, Schein's work provides a foundational understanding of organizational culture, which is the primary medium through which DDOs operate.
- The Functions of the Executive · Chester Barnard (1938)
Chapter 10 identifies this book as providing the seminal concept of 'willingness to contribute to the cooperative system,' which forms the theoretical foundation for the modern construct of Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB).
- The Psychology of Careers · Donald E. Super (1957)
Chapter 3 cites this as a foundational work that established the concept of career stages, a model that has profoundly influenced career development theory and research for decades.
- Decision-making in the employment interview · E. C. Webster (1964)
Chapter 6 highlights this as the key report from the influential McGill University studies, which revealed the cognitive biases inherent in unstructured interviews and shifted the focus of research toward understanding the interviewer's decision process.
- Principles for the Validation and Use of Personnel Selection Procedures · Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP)
Multiple chapters (e.g., 13, 15) refer to this document and the related AERA/APA/NCME 'Standards' as the authoritative professional guidelines that define best practices and core concepts, like the modern unitarian view of validity, for the entire field of personnel selection.
- Managing Human Assets · Beer, M. et al. (1984)
This is a seminal book that introduced the 'Harvard framework' of HRM, emphasizing a multi-stakeholder approach that considers the interests of employees, not just shareholders. It provides a foundational 'soft' HRM perspective.
- Strategic Human Resource Management · Fombrun, C. J., Tichy, N. M. and Devanna, M. A. (1984)
This book introduced the 'Michigan framework,' which advocated for a 'hard' HRM approach focused on tightly matching HR strategy to the business strategy (vertical fit). It is a foundational text for the strategic alignment concept.