Researchers at INSEAD and The Wharton School have found that a brief period of mindfulness meditation can encourage people to make more rational decisions. They are more likely to consider the information available in the present moment and are less likely to be distracted by concerns about what could have been.
The research by Hafenbrack, Kinias and Barsade, published in Psychological Science, looked at decisions flawed by the ‘sunk cost bias', a consideration of factors that should be irrelevant to a decision.
Those that engaged in mindfulness were more likely to ignore the other concerns that typically exacerbate the 'sunk cost bias. Mindfulness meditation cultivates awareness of the present moment and clears the mind of other thoughts.
In the 2014 report in Science Daily, Kinias explains: "First, meditation reduced how much people focused on the past and future, and this psychological shift led to less negative emotion. The reduced negative emotion then facilitated their ability to let go of sunk costs."
Letting go of the ‘what could have been’ to focus on the present and on the positive is considered essential for good strategic thinking.
In his book the Emotional Intelligent Leader, Daniel Goleman writes that “positive emotions widen our attention and our receptiveness to the new and unexpected.”
The evidence and the advice suggests using meditative practices to prepare the mind for better decisions.