The 'false consensus bias', managing our priorities & more

The 'false consensus bias', managing our priorities & more

Welcome to the first edition of the 4-way Thought Street. I share one career lesson, one life lesson, one financial lesson and a tiny, teensy random thought.

Career Perspective:

We struggle with the ‘false consensus bias’ more in the workplace than we care to admit. The False Consensus Bias is a gap in our thinking that makes us believe that other People see life exactly from our own perspective.

It is as simple as this. ’Since I believe Alex is horrible at his Job, everyone should equally believe that Alex is horrible at his Job’

Sometimes, we may be correct. Other times (and most of the time), we are wrong. People especially in the workplace have completely different perspective from us.

They don’t see things the way we see things. They don’t come to conclusion using our personal thought process, They don’t have the same gaps and biases in our thinking or most times, the biases in our thinking differ from their own biases. And this alone is responsible for over 50% of the workplace conflicts we experience.

What is the solution we can take?

We would have a more effective workplace relationship with others if only we look at others’ perspective. We would relate better with others once we start seeing the other side of the coin in reaching conclusions.

It is easy to dismiss others’ idea because you feel it does not carry weight or it is easy to feel upset your manager dismissed your idea unfairly. Have you tried considering the other perspective?

Maybe the idea is not so bad after all. Maybe your manager wanted a long term solution instead of the short term solution that your idea carried.

A note of warning: This does not mean you should make excuses for anyone. This simply means that before you arrive at a conclusion, try to consider the perspective of others. It would lead to you making well-rounded decisions.

Life Perspective:

How can we manage our priorities better?

My best story as a child was one my high school teacher shared. He brought an empty bucket, three big rocks, a basket of small stones and a container of sand.

As he stood before the class, he shared a very insightful lesson many, foremost myself would not forget in a hurry. ‘My goal is to fill this bucket’, he said. ‘First, I would add the rocks, then the smaller stones and lastly, my container of sand to ensure everything fits in.

If I add the sand before the rocks, I would have no space for my big rocks and the stones.’

I would add this:

Take the empty bucket as symbolic representation of your life. The big rocks are the most important things in your life, Family, Career, Yourself. These should take priority in your life. The small stones represent important things that should be done but are not major like the big rocks. Then, the sand represent the good and the fun things that can be done but not necessarily important. Don’t let the sand take up the space meant for the big rocks in your life.

A Pro hack from me: Once you are able to get the big rocks in order, you will find it easier to fit in the little stones and sand in place. That is, Once you get your three big priorities in life, you would find it easier to fit in everything else and manage your time better.

Financial Advice:

Before you invest your money into a financial scheme, take your time to research properly into it. Don’t be satisfied by the words of the broker or the representative of the scheme. There are more scams than ever. Equally, watch your greed. You would find it easier to fall into scams when your greed level is very high.

One Random Thought from me:

We often hear how Early birds catches the fattest worm but?we tend to forget that it is the early worm that gets eaten. In Life, it is best to maintain a balance. Tipping too far to any side would cause you to lose your foothold. Maintain balance always.

P.S This holiday session is the period that Intentional Professionals take out the time to invest into their soft skills. They know that the promotions, recognition, salary increases only come when they intentionally invest into their skillset and expertise.?

I would be taking 70 professionals on a three day intensive training where they would be taught and equipped with over 35 Soft Skills crucial to their growth in 2023. The training currently has a 70% price slash and you can get it for N7,100 instead of N35,000.

Use this link to see what you would miss out by not registering for the training. https://selar.co.q42b

P.S.S: I can’t seem to get my mind off the fact that Messi got his World Cup!