Blinders are factors or perceptions that “prevent someone from gaining a full understanding of a situation” when making a decision where several competing interests are at play. Blinders may derail the decision-making process as a result of the perceptions held by an agent about to make a decision. Blinder is often a psychological phenomenon happening within a cluster of persons under which the aspiration for conventionality within this cluster results in a biased outcome in the decisions made. The main underlying assumption towards belonging to this cluster is the need to minimize conflict through blind conformity.
Thus, an individual caught up in a blinder situation is blindly loyal to a set of thoughts or actions for fear of being controversial as a result of exercising independent thinking. The second way by which blinders may interfere with effective decision-making is through the creation of dysfunctional dynamics within such an individual to generate what is commonly referred to as an “illusion of invulnerability.” Actually, blinders make persons believe in the universality of their decisions as right without accommodating the opponents’ abilities, which are often underrated. Lastly, blinders may result in a perceived lack of responsibility in decision-making since it is influenced by the need to assert a will, irrespective of how right or wrong this will is. In the worst case, blinder orientation in the decision-making process may generate actions that are dehumanizing those perceived as belonging to the opponent quarter.
In order to deal with human blinders, decision-makers should embrace high decision-making skills. The process of high-quality decision-making is dependent on heuristic since it provides assumptions, integration of options, and rational control. The decision environment often experiences dynamics and swings which create short- and long-term effects on chances of survival for two alternatives to solve a problem. When faced with a decision problem that requires critical assessments, a high-quality decision-making process resorts to analytical tools that ensure competitive positioning advantage and rationality. Each option is assigned to a quadrant with predetermined response strategies and ‘follow-ups’ upon each decision made. Therefore, high-quality decision-making relies heavily on the pillar of alternatives through research and knowledge of the situation or problem.