Whether we are willing to admit it or not, everyone has cognitive biases. The challenge is knowing how to work around them to achieve optimal thinking. In this wide-ranging interview, Dr. Jay Gordon Cone argues that one of the most pervasive biases is confirmation bias, which leads us to quickly notice and accept things that are consistent with our underlying beliefs-and to ignore or reject things that are not. This is of particular concern right now, because in an increasingly polarized world, we crave the comfort of having our worldview reinforced and embraced more than ever. The danger comes when we overlook evidence that we might not have all the facts-or we might just be plain wrong. Dr. Cone, who has advised The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, GE and PepsiCo, provides practical tools for fighting confirmation bias and eradicating closed-mindedness-and puts readers on the path to maintaining a balanced worldview.

When it comes to problem-solving, the questions we ask often undermine our desire to uncover novel insights. The author describes 'quicksand questions' and the four traps they get us into. He then presents his 'Unstuck Minds Compass', which asks four questions of the individual encountering a complex challenge: Do you want information about the big picture (contextual inquiry) or data about the nature of the problem (critical inquiry)? Should you seek out the perspectives of others (collaborative inquiry) or start by questioning the assumptions behind the framing of the challenge (creative inquiry)? In the end, he shows that diversifying our approach to complex problems by embracing these four types of inquiry can help us become more adaptable and less likely to get stuck.