At First Glance

One day not long ago, I happened to glance out the window in time to observe a peculiar action:  Did that person just throw a piece of trash at the house across the street?

Then I realized...Oh. He was delivering the newspaper.

We make quick assessments all day long about the situations and people around us. It's part of the human experience:

• Is that person angry with me? or just having a bad day?
• Where are the scissors?! I bet Riley took them to school again. Wait, here they are.
• A PhD in astrophysics?  This candidate must be super-smart.

We all know first impressions can be deceiving.  And yet the practical reality of everyday life is that we frequently must make decisions on the fly based on our first impression.  One of the hallmarks of a great decision-maker is holding both of these seemingly contradictory truths at once, and making decisions with courage in the presence of uncertainty.