UseYourNetworktoShortCircuitYourBiases
Didyouknowthereareatleast150differenttypesofbiases?Thismeansthereare150possiblewaysof
makingdecisionsbasedonflawedreasoningatanunconsciouslevel.
Asaleader,howmanydecisionsdoyouhavetomakeinaday?Hurrieddecisions,peopledecisions,time
andmoneydecisions,creativedecisions…Howmanyinaweek?Themorepressuredyoufeeltomakethe
decisionthemorelikelyyouaretorelyonyour“favorite”setofbiases.Biasesthatyouhavebeenfinetuningovermanyyearsandformanydifferentreasons.
Accordingtoresearchers*,educationandtrainingtomakeyouawareofyourbiasesdoeslittletolessen
yournon-consciousrelianceonthem.Inotherwords,biasesworkonussofastandsopowerfullyit’s
extremelydifficulttocatchandreverseourselvesintheact.
So,howcanexpandingyournetworkhelpshort-circuittheunconsciousbiasmechanism?
Seekingalternativepointsofviewisonewayofchangingourprocessfordecision-makingthatcan
uncoverandreduceourbiases.Awholesubcategoryofbiasesrelatestoourobjectivity(perhapsyou’ve
heardofsomeofthese:BiasBlindSpot,FundamentalAttributionError,HindsightBias,FalseConsensus
Effect,thelistgoeson*)thatis,allthewaysinwhichwefalselybelieveweseetheworldaccurately.If
othersagreewithus,theytooseeitaccurately.Iftheydisagreewithus,they’reinaccurate.These
particularbiasescannegativelyaffectourcreativedecision-making.Sinceweareconvincedwe“see”
realityobjectively,wemustbeabletocomeupwiththebestsolutions.Peoplewhoseeitdifferentlyare
crazy,stupid,mean…insertadjectivehere.
Whodoyougotowhenyouhavetosolveaproblem?Doyouwalkdownthehall(orinstantmessage)to
thesameteammatewhoseestheworldexactlyasyoudoandconfirmsyourbestandbrightestideas?Or
doyouactivelyseekoutalternativepointsofview?Whodoyouincludeinyouractivenetworkandare
theyhelpingyouexpandyourperspectiveandpossiblyexposeandundoyourbiases?Howcanyou
intentionallyexpandyournetworktoinvitediverseperspectives?Whocanyoubeginforming
relationshipswithtohelpyouseeproblemsandideasthroughanotherperson’seyes?
Herearesomepossibilities:
-Beginbuildingorstrengtheningrelationshipswithpeersindifferentfunctionalareasotherthanyour
own.Askthemwhattheworldlookslikefromwheretheysit.
-Engageyourbossinconversationsthathelpyougainabroader,higher-levelperspectiveofthe
organization.
-Seekoutprofessionalnetworkingopportunitiesinwhichyoucanengageinmeaningful
conversationsaboutyourwork,suchasgroupcoachingandcohortbase-trainings.Besuretousethese
opportunitiestointentionallysolicitadiversityofperspectives.
Thenexttimeyouneedtomakeacreativedecision,whomwillyougotoforanalternativeidea,ortwo
orthree,beforeyouproceed?
*FromDr.JoshDavisatNeuroLeadership.org
©KandeCulverMcDonald,2015
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