Beware of these 8 Biases

I have taught Organizational Behaviour for some 27 years now. I have even produced a series of videos on Vimeo called OBwan that address bits and pieces on said work. With students and participants in my sessions over the years, I refer to it as the psychology of organizations. It is ultimately the study of how individuals, groups and structures work better together to produce ever better results. It covers off perception, personality and temperament, emotional intelligence, values, attitudes, beliefs, motivation, stress, leadership, teamwork, communications, conflict, negotiations, power, decision making, Creativity, ethics, culture and change.... and, dare I say, more.

Yesterday, in conversation with a good friend, we talked on Confirmation Bias, and it got me offering up thoughts around 8 forms of bias we best need to be ever more mindful of at home, work, school, business and community. Consider:

• Overconfidence Bias happens when our judgement is guided by almost an arrogance... being far too "optimistic" in terms of our performance. I call this the "I got this" bias. Confidence is indeed important and something we should practice but we need to understand the slippery slope on being so "sure" of things. Sometimes Confidence is most needed in the moments when we have to acknowledge that we might be "wrong".
• Anchoring Bias occurs when we tend to "anchor" or fixate ourselves on initial information at the expense of adjusting and adapting to new information. This can be seen as "first impression" bias.
• Confirmation Bias, yeah that thing. With it, we tend to seek out information that serves to support and reaffirm what we already believe to be true. And, we can tend to toss inside anything that runs contrary, no matter how voluminous the evidence.

• Availability Bias is all about "going with what you know". It manifests in basing judgement on information that is available and accessible with ease, rather than practicing due Diligence and digging deeper and broader... doing real homework. So much work, that is.

• Commitment Bias, or escalation of Commitment, is being "in for a penny, in for a pound". As we invest ever deeper into our decision, we find it ever harder to back out or away. Commitment is indeed a strength... but again, a slippery slope if we made a quicker and less discerned decision in the first place.
• Random Bias... or randomness error, more specifically. I find this an interesting one indeed. This happens when we tend to believe that we can predict the outcome of what are actually random events. We believe we have a better handle on what we think will happen than we actually do. We just "know" what will happen. Riiiight.

• Risk Aversion. This is the predisposition to prefer the "safer bet" with moderate gain ... over the riskier path with possibly greater outcome. This is "the road most travelled" bias. We just need to be cognizant that "safe" is not always best.
• Hindsight Bias is almost the flipside of Random Bias. After the occurrence of an event or action, we somehow contend that we could have predicted that outcome. When a Team wins that "should have" won, we "knew" it was going to happen. Really?

Look, we just need to be aware of these and how they play in our decisions and perceptions in life. We need to practice Mindfulness in the face of these 8.

Being aware of their respective play in our views and decisions can allow us to make better decisions and take better actions. With that in mind and heart, I offer these strengths of character to consider.

In the face of these Biases, be ever mindful and aware. Practice a Sagaciously Understanding Perceptiveness. When facing a decision or a moment of Discernment ... SUP matters. Ask yourself "WasSUP with that?" :-)

All lame attempts at humor aside, be wary of these 8. They can lead us to views and actions that might not be best for ourselves or others.

Character and its exploration matters in dancing with our Biases.

Peace, passion, purpose and prosperity...

Barry Lewis Green, The Unity Guy with Epic Engage.

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