Using Poker Strategy to Make Better Business Decisions – with Annie Duke

Most people know Annie as a professional poker player. She’s won numerous poker championships and millions of dollars in prizes.  I got to know her in 2004 when I really got into poker.  My first book was actually a business novel that took place at the world series of poker and used poker hands to teach important innovation lessons.  So when I saw Annie, one of the few women who were even competing in the tournament, keep winning, keep being the only woman at one final table after another, and keep doing it with class and style, I became a huge fan. What I didn’t know about Annie until doing research for this interview is that she graduated from Columbia University and then graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania.  That she won a fellowship from the National Science Foundation and got a doctorate in cognitive psychology.  Annie is an entrepreneur, a committed advocate for important causes, a mother, a wife, and the author of several books including my favorite and the subject of our discussion today: Thinking in Bets, Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts. Today Annie is going to tell us:Why you should focus on process rather than outcome to decide whether you made a good decisionWhy there’s a competition going on all the time between your short term wants and your long term wants and how to prevent your short term impulses from sabotaging your long term growth.Our mistaken belief on how we form our assumptions and beliefs about the world – hint, you aren’t as objective as you thinkAn incredible way to get people to question their assumptions and beliefs in a way they aren’t naturally inclined to doThe value of thinking of your work projects as betsHow to identify the habits that your team rewards and understand whether you are actually helping your causeIn the Kander Family we have a saying. Last one, best one.  It means whatever you’re doing, make the last rep, the last try, your best effort. And this episode is certainly that for this season. I hope you enjoy this amazing conversation on Professional AF!