Andrew Waxman

The work of the famed psychologist Daniel Kahneman provides insights into how bankers can make better business decisions around cryptocurrency and other investments.

There’s growing evidence that the greatest progress and most effective decision-making are not the products of a single charismatic leader or pair of leaders, but of a collaborative culture. Banks could benefit from adopting this mindset.

Alternative data can be beneficial for individuals locked out of the financial system’s more conventional data types, but such data is open to manipulation or biased interpretation.

Unlike a visiting sports team, foreign banks can't just blame local referees they perceive as biased for penalties or fines.

Using historical patterns to predict the next financial success or crisis seems rational. But beware the human psyche’s tendency to concoct order out of randomness.

With a heavy focus on the granular details of compliance, bankers and regulators might miss the big picture — not unlike New York City’s approach to fighting crime in the 1990s.

The world is divided into those who pursue popular decisions that are more likely to fail and those who go against the crowd and end up having the last laugh.

Narcissistic biases can lead us to favor those who look like us or have similar backgrounds or other common bonds. This inevitably affects the quality of hiring and risk management decisions.

In a world where confidence is rewarded more than indecision, businesses risk elevating confident leaders who overestimate their abilities. In banking, that can have harmful effects.

Firms need to evaluate risks ranging from hackers spreading false information about the bank to an executive’s inappropriate social media posts.