If you exist as a human being, you’ll have biases. There’s no way around it. The question is, how do they impact our teams and organisations and what can we do to minimise them?
I read this somewhere:
“Biases are at the root of many sociological problems, like racism, sexism, political rifts, and general inequality.”
Let’s try not to be too biassed about this…
There are a myriad of biases out there. For the purpose of this article, I will be focusing on what are called cognitive biases. Cognitive biases are unconscious errors in our thought process that arise from issues related to memory, attention, and other mental mistakes. These biases are a direct result of the way that we are all wired to try to simplify the world around us.
For a comprehensive list of cognitive biases, please check this wikipedia page. Also, please note that, after all, it is a Wikipedia page.
We will focus on some of these, but not all (I really don’t have the article space, the time, or the will to go over all of them). Specifically, how they affect us, our teams, and organizations and what we can do to mitigate their impact.
I’d like to start with one that tickles me, particularly as it often manifests within management levels. I am talking about the Kruger-Dunning Syndrome. Simply put, this is a cognitive bias where someone tends to believe they know more about a particular subject than they really know. And when I say that it usually manifests itself within management levels, it is because they tend to fall into this trap because they need to show superiority. I am not saying that when this happens, it happens because of the bias itself, but if you put people in situations where they desperately need to maintain power, the syndrome will eventually show itself. Weird, right? Of course, this bias appears everywhere, especially within teams, where the fight to become the Alpha happens all the time, even if covertly. The way to fight this within your teams? Allow equal time for all and equal voice for all. Don’t be a leader only. Checkout holacracy at an organisational level or management 3.0 at a team level.
Next, closely connected to the first bias, comes the Confirmation Bias. This one is very simple to understand and we’ve all gone through it at some point. The tendency to interpret and favour new evidence as confirmation of one’s existing beliefs or theories. This means that we tend to follow what confirms our thoughts, ignoring everything else. You see a lot of this in conspiracy theorists. Everything seems to confirm what we believe, and everything else is discarded. Be aware that this usually happens without us noticing we are falling into this trap. This is why it is so important to have all parties involved. Listen to others actively, discuss and debate as a way to explore further. If you stick to your own thoughts, you’ll become self-centered and focused only on your beliefs.
This leads me to the next bias, which is the Blind Spot bias. This is a tricky one as it is referred to as the failing of people to identify and compensate for their own biases. Sadly, it happens more often than expected. Because we are not aware (or we don’t let ourselves become aware), we tend to consider ourselves immune to biases and therefore not work on them. This is particularly insidious if you think that it will eventually “infect” a team and an organisation quite easily. Which in itself leads me to state that, as with so many other topics, the first step to solving our missteps and shortcomings is to recognise them. Once you are able to do so, you have a solid basis to work on each bias, one at a time.
Finally, I want to mention another type of bias that is very common. I suffer from it from time to time. I am talking about Imposter Syndrome. This one is a b*tch to handle. And it probably is the one that limits us most and impedes our productivity the most. Many of us — if not all — have felt at some point in our lives that they were not good enough, or that they were a fraud. We might even think that it is only a matter of time until someone finds out that we are imposters. This bias is often connected with feelings of anxiety.
“Persistent inability to believe that one’s success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one’s own efforts or skills.”
Well, this is where hard work comes into play. My personal take on this is simple. Whenever I start feeling this way, I push harder. I’ll study more. I researched. But also, and most importantly, I reach out. Not for validation (that’s another bias, by the way), but for help. People that know you, that work with you, that trust you, will help you get out of this state of perceived inaptitude.
And, for now, this is it. There are many more biases you should take a look at. Study them carefully. See if you or your team suffer from them. Discuss them openly. Make your weaknesses your best assets.
As always, this is my take on this topic. You can, and should, follow along by researching other sources.