An unbiased view – 2021
June 25, 2024
I am currently reading the book “The art of thinking clearly” by Rolf Dobelli. It is a very interesting book which talks about several concepts in a simple and clear manner, and makes us re-think the way we think. One of the interesting concepts that I picked up from the book is around “Biases”.
The author talks about many kinds of biases and how they influence our behavior. I have picked 5 biases to talk about- confirmation bias, authority bias, availability bias, outcome bias and association bias.
The dictionary meaning of bias is prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair. All of us experience different kinds of biases at different times, and these can have a negative impact on our actions and behavior. It is important for us to be aware of our biases and their consequences so that we can be mindful of them and work around them in our daily life.
Confirmation bias– this is the mother of all misconceptions. It is the tendency of the mind to interpret new information in such a way that it fits in with our existing beliefs and theories. We tend to filter out any “non-conforming evidence”. This can be dangerous both in our personal and work life- giving us a false sense of progress versus our goals.
My hack: One way I deal with confirmation bias is to have an independent third-party ratify the progress- whether it is about checking in with my yoga teacher on my progress on an asana or conducting an independent audit to check-in on the progress of key projects in the organization.
Authority bias– this is a very common bias especially in India, where we tend to unquestioningly bow down to authority- in politics, in organizations and even at home. Right from our childhood, we have been taught to respect authority. Thankfully that is changing today. I find more people at work questioning their bosses on why certain things need to be done in a particular way. I also find children questioning their parents on their beliefs and customs.
My hack: At work, I ensure that I encourage my teams share their views without any fear of persecution, and to challenge each other so that the overall quality of decision making goes up. I do the same with my daughter where I actively seek her views on various matters.
Availability bias– we often tend to create our version of the reality basis examples that easily come to our mind, and we end up travelling through life with this incorrect “reality”. We end up making decisions based on easily available information rather than relevant information.
My hack: I ensure and encourage diversity in thinking with my team, so that I have multiple perspectives before taking important decisions. This ensures that all relevant information has been obtained and assessed before taking the decision. When working on my Photography projects, I bounce off my ideas with my creative friends, whose inputs help me shape the output in a more meaningful manner.
Outcome bias– very often we tend to evaluate decisions based on results and not on the decision-making process. This can be incorrect, especially when there are external factors at play. A bad result doesn’t automatically indicate a bad decision and vice versa.
My hack: As part of our performance evaluation process, there is a lot of emphasis given to the “how” along with the “what” of the results achieved. This is to ensure that all factors are considered while evaluating a person, and its not merely on the basis of the results. One thing that I have found useful in my personal life is mindful reflection after any key outcome- this helps me isolate and analyse the “how” and not just focus on the “what”.
Association bias– our past experience can impact our judgement. This is because our brain is a connection machine which is wired to make associations between two random events to draw a conclusion which then becomes a belief. For example – the last two times something bad happened to me, it was raining and hence rain means bad luck!!
My hack: I encourage my team to share news the way it is- good or bad, and avoid the “shoot the messenger” syndrome, where we associate certain people with being the harbinger of bad news. In my personal life, I try and compartmentalize things in my mind to minimize the negative impact of the association bias.
Someone once famously said “The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend”. If we can train our mind to be more open, more mindful and more reflective then we can truly see what lies beyond these biases and that will help us take more informed and unbiased decisions. We may still not get everything right, but we would at least be looking at things the right way. And that matters.
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