Johannes Siebert

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  • Decision scientist Johannes Siebert: School over – now what? How young people find the right career

    Decision scientist Johannes Siebert: School over – now what? How young people find the right career

    What comes after school? Choosing a career and course of study is one of the first big decisions young people make in life – and often one of the most difficult. Decision scientist Prof. Johannes Siebert explains why it is so much more than a “compulsory program” and what opportunities it offers.

    Many young people are currently asking themselves: “What am I going to do after school?” Why is this decision so important?

    For many of them, choosing a career or course of study is one of the first big decisions they have to make independently. It not only influences their professional career, but also their self-confidence and their future prospects. In short: their lives. It is often possible to change the initial decision to study or do vocational training without a great deal of bureaucracy.

    However, as surveys show, this often results in considerable individual psychological stress for young people – not to mention the overall economic consequences, such as an increased shortage of skilled workers and lower economic productivity as a result of delayed career entry.

    Read the full article here (in German): https://www.focus.de/familie/ausbildung/entscheidungswissenschaftler-johannes-siebert-schule-vorbei-und-jetzt-wie-junge-menschen-den-passenden-beruf-finden_22435455-3583-4c2a-8981-3b80dd727a0b.html

    Please stay current and do not miss any of my contributions on Focus Online. Follow me and network with me for exciting insights and current discussions. I look forward to exchanging ideas with you! https://www.linkedin.com/in/johannes-siebert/

  • Lies and manipulation on the internet: expert shows you two effective ways to protect yourself against fake news

    Lies and manipulation on the internet: expert shows you two effective ways to protect yourself against fake news

    Fake news is deliberately spread to manipulate opinions and, thus, elections. Fact checks alone are powerless against their public effectiveness. However, in combination with other tools, resistance to false claims can be strengthened in the long term.

    “You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time,” declared US President Abraham Lincoln more than 150 years ago. Even though he was already vividly aware of the influence of fake news on public opinion back then, he was confident enough to believe that the truth would prevail in the end – at least for most people. Can we still share this optimism in the age of manipulation-prone internet media and their global networking?

    Despite prominent experiences to the contrary, resignation is clearly out of place. A large number of scientific studies have recently looked into the effects of fake news and developed effective antidotes. The results are cause for concern, but they also show that We are by no means defenseless against the seductive power of fake news. Perhaps just reading this article can help you react more consciously and resiliently in the future to campaigns that want to make you believe something you would never believe on your own.

    Read the full article here (in German): https://www.focus.de/experts/profi-zeigt-zwei-methoden-wie-sie-sich-effektiv-gegen-fake-news-wappnen-koennen_id_260161530.html

    Please stay current and do not miss any of my contributions on FOCUS Online. Follow me and network with me for exciting insights and current discussions. I look forward to exchanging ideas with you! https://www.linkedin.com/in/johannes-siebert/

  • How to become your own decision architect and make better career decisions

    How to become your own decision architect and make better career decisions

    The only way that you can purposefully influence anything in your life is by your decisions. The rest of your life just happens. This article provides practical concepts and useful procedures empowering you to become your own decision architect to make systematically better decisions and improve your life. In addition, specific tips for career decisions are presented.

    Note: This article is based on the TEDxInnsbruck “Give yourself a nudge: How you can make better decisions”, 2021 (available at https://www.ted.com/talks/johannes_siebert_nudge_yourself_to_make_better_decisions). It also provides specific tips for making career decisions.

    https://www.researchgate.net/publication/374631691_How_to_become_your_own_decision_architect_and_make_better_career_decisions

  • Enhancing misinformation correction: New variants and a combination of awareness training and counter-speech to mitigate belief perseverance bias

    Enhancing misinformation correction: New variants and a combination of awareness training and counter-speech to mitigate belief perseverance bias

    Belief perseverance bias refers to individuals’ tendency to persevere in biased opinions even after the misinformation that initially shaped those opinions has been retracted. This study contributes to research on reducing the negative impact of misinformation by mitigating the belief perseverance bias. The study explores the previously proposed awareness-training and counter-speech debiasing techniques, further developing them by introducing new variants and combining them. We investigate their effectiveness in mitigating the belief perseverance bias after the retraction of misinformation related to a real-life issue in an experiment involving N = 876 individuals, of whom 364 exhibit belief perseverance bias. The effectiveness of the debiasing techniques is assessed by measuring the difference between the baseline opinions before exposure to misinformation and the opinions after exposure to a debiasing technique. Our study confirmed the effectiveness of the awareness-training and counter-speech debiasing techniques in mitigating the belief perseverance bias, finding no discernible differences in the effectiveness between the previously proposed and the new variants. Moreover, we observed that the combination of awareness training and counter-speech is more effective in mitigating the belief perseverance bias than the single debiasing techniques.

    Siebert, Jana, Siebert, Johannes U. “Enhancing misinformation correction: New variants and a combination of awareness training and counter-speech to mitigate belief perseverance bias”. PLoS ONE 19(2): e0299139, 2024, 1-15, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299139

  • Generation A – Making decisions easier for young people

    Generation A – Making decisions easier for young people

    BAYREUTH. Can young people even make decisions for themselves – and make good decisions for themselves? Of course, says Prof. Johannes Siebert, and has a task for the audience: a young person wants to play computer games with his friends at the weekend. The young people call it “gaming”. However, he has not performed the best at school in the past year – and there is an important math exam just after the gaming weekend. Should parents allow it or not? The listeners clearly say no. What happens in a family? The parents say, if you promise to cram for at least two hours every day until the Zock weekend, then we’ll allow it. But who makes the decision? “The parents,” says Siebert. But there is a way for young people to gain control over the decision themselves. They can suggest that they study until the Thursday before the gambling weekend – and then have their parents listen to them. If he has mastered the material, he can gamble. If not – no gambling.

    Johannes Siebert works at the Management Center Innsbruck and is a private lecturer at the University of Bayreuth. He advises the Pentagon and is a columnist for Focus magazine. At the University of Bayreuth, he is in charge of the “Klug entscheiden!” research project. He says that making smart decisions can change your life. That’s why he wants to strengthen young people’s decision-making skills. Put simply: if young people can make good decisions, they can also make better decisions in their education. This leads to fewer young people dropping out of training, fewer failures – and they become happier.

    Fewer options desired

    Sounds simple and is easier than expected. The project is already being implemented in many schools, and there will soon be two “lighthouse schools” in Kulmbach. Pupils break down complex decisions into small steps. Problem: The kids are “bombarded” with options for action – such as tens of thousands of study options. “But if they don’t have the skills,” warns Siebert, “all the options go nowhere come to nothing.” The principle is similar to that of online shoe retailer Zalando: the more criteria you specify, the smaller the selection. Until the right shoe comes out……

    The complete, excellent article by chief reporter Otto Lapp from the Nordbayerichen Kurier can be found here: https://www.kurier.de/inhalt.generation-a-lost-am-handy-oder-was.210c70c8-81d9-4def-a5a3-b36ea31fb743.html

  • From wish to reality: Find happiness! If you follow 6 steps, you will make good decisions

    From wish to reality: Find happiness! If you follow 6 steps, you will make good decisions

    We can actively shape our lives with decisions ─ both professionally and privately. But how do we make decisions that are likely to influence our lives in the way we want them to? Decision scientist Johannes Siebert provides answers.

    We often invest a lot of time and energy in important decisions. Nevertheless, sometimes we are dissatisfied with ourselves afterward. But when is self-criticism justified? What makes a good decision anyway?

    Only when we are clear about how we can make good decisions can we increase our own life satisfaction through our actions.

    First of all, a key point: the results of our decisions are not a criterion for their quality. Although we can influence the future, it is never entirely up to us how it turns out. There is always a residual uncertainty.

    Imagine we decide to travel to a destination known for its white sandy beaches and reliably sunny weather in the summer months. Then, we experience heavy rain showers, cold winds, or tanker accidents that pollute the beach.

    Did we make a wrong decision because of this? No, because we could neither foresee nor influence any of this when we decided.

    Instead, the quality of our decisions depends on six elements that are largely in our own hands and that interlock like the links in a chain. The following applies: the decision can never be better than the weakest link in the chain. It is, therefore, worth striving for the highest possible quality in all of the following six elements!

    Read the full article here (in German): https://www.focus.de/experts/vom-wunsch-zur-wirklichkeit-yes-we-can-mit-diesen-6-schritten-finden-sie-ihr-persoenliches-glueck_id_259842310.html

    Please stay current and not miss any of my contributions on FOCUS Online. For exciting insights and current discussions, follow me and network with me. I look forward to exchanging ideas with you! https://www.linkedin.com/in/johannes-siebert/

  • Despite pressure from fans and the media: why clubs should think twice when sacking coaches

    Despite pressure from fans and the media: why clubs should think twice when sacking coaches

    When a team in professional soccer fails to achieve the hoped-for results, many fans almost reflexively call for a new coach. In my article on Focus Online, I explain why it is often a bad idea to give in to this demand.

    A team is behind and needs two goals in the last quarter of an hour to turn the game around. In this critical situation, the coach decides to substitute a striker for a defender. The striker scores the two long-awaited goals and the team wins. Was the substitution of the striker a good decision by the coach? Many fans, commentators and media clearly say “Yes!”. In the event of a defeat, they would have vehemently demanded the dismissal of the coach, whom they are now celebrating for his tactical foresight. In terms of decision-making theory, this reaction – as understandable as it may seem at first glance – does not make sense.

    This becomes clear with a counter-example. Let’s assume Dietmar Hamann, who has long since ended his active career and works as a television pundit, is eligible to play and is sitting on the substitutes’ bench ready for action. He is substituted by the coach a quarter of an hour before the end of the game, an opponent’s clearance hits him on the back and the ball bounces into the goal. A few seconds before the final whistle, there is a similar scene. Dietmar Hamann scores the redemptive goal. The team is victorious. Was it a good decision to substitute the “soccer pensioner” Hamann? Certainly not. But perhaps the coach could have made a decision that was more likely to win.

    At Bayern Munich, for example, Jupp Heynckes and Pep Guardiola sometimes used to put the very strong defender Daniel von Buyten in the center of the attack as a tactical measure instead of replacing him with another striker. Van Buyten tied up to two opponents and thus created space for his teammates. Coaches are less celebrated by fans and the media for such measures. The reason for this is that the result of the decision is not directly linked to the coach’s decision, as would be the case if a substitute scored a goal.

    Read the full article here (in German): https://www.focus.de/experts/entscheidungsexperte-warnt-warum-vereine-bei-trainerentlassungen-zweimal-ueberlegen-sollten_id_259845761.html

  • Realize your dreams through sound decision making

    Realize your dreams through sound decision making

    In an article in the FOCUS Online Expert Circle, I explain the biggest mistake made in decision-making and how to avoid it easily.

    The biggest mistake is that many people are content with the default decision-making situations and don’t actively engage with what they should (actually) be deciding on. It’s important to think outside the box and (pro-)actively take control of our own decisions.

    And there is hope! Proactive decision making is a skill that anyone can learn. An effective approach is to think through every decision-making situation with three key questions in mind:

    1. how can we best define decision-making situations?

    2. how can we identify the objectives relevant to a decision?

    3. how do we discover particularly good options for action?

    I answer these and other questions in the interview. Read the full article here: https://www.focus.de/experts/fundierte-entscheidungsfindung-stellen-sie-sich-drei-schluesselfragen-um-traeume-zu-verwirklichen_id_259706293.html

    I also talk about the importance of being your own decision architect – a concept I explore in more depth in my TEDxTalk.

    English TEDxTalk: https://bit.ly/TEDxTalkSiebert

    German translation: https://bit.ly/TEDxTalkText

    Looking for more in-depth insights? My free online course “Proactively making smart decisions” is waiting for you with comprehensive material – ideal for a rainy February. Discover strategies for making smart decisions and expand your horizons from the comfort of your own home. Register now and take the opportunity to expand your knowledge!

    Discover the course: https://imoox.at/course/smartentscheiden

    Stay up to date, and don’t miss any of my posts in the FOCUS Online Expert Circle. Follow me and network with me for exciting insights and current discussions. I look forward to exchanging ideas with you!

  • MCI-Prof. Johannes Siebert wins prestigious Best Paper Award

    MCI-Prof. Johannes Siebert wins prestigious Best Paper Award

    We are delighted that the article “Making a good career choice: A decision-analytical intervention to enhance proactive decision-making and career choice self-efficacy in high school students” by Prof. Johannes Siebert, Dr. Nadine Oeser, and Dr. Maxi Becker was awarded the Best Research Paper 2023 by the renowned Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education. In previous studies, Siebert/Kunz/Rolf (2020, 2021) were able to prove the effectiveness of decision-making skills training for students and managers. Taken together, the studies allow the conclusion that proactive cognitive decision-making skills can be improved through decision-making skills training and, as a result, participants experience greater self-efficacy and are more satisfied with their lives. Motivated by these research results, Prof. Siebert wanted to investigate the effectiveness of KLUG-decision-making competence trainings in analogy to these studies.
    Further details can be found here: https://www.mci.edu/en/news-filter-en/193-studyprogram-news/news-business-management-en/5453-best-paper-award-decision-sciences
  • What is important when it comes to career guidance at school: researchers explain how best to support pupils in choosing a course of study or training

    What is important when it comes to career guidance at school: researchers explain how best to support pupils in choosing a course of study or training

    The drop-out rates among trainees and first-year students are high – on average, around one in four drop out again. Schools have an important role to play in prior career guidance. Prof. Dr. Johannes Siebert from the Management Center Innsbruck explains which mistakes should be avoided.

    You can find the full, excellent article by Lena Sterz from Campus Schulmagazin here: https://www.campus-schulmanagement.de/magazin/was-bei-der-berufsorientierung-in-der-schule-wichtig-ist