The objectivity trap

There are words I love, and others I cringe when I hear. I would like to tell you more about the words I love, like serendipity, but unfortunately for you this post is about one that I really hate : objectivity.

I hate it because I don’t know how to be completely objective. According to Wikipedia there more than 200 cognitive biases. They are systematic flaws in reasoning. The hidden traps that we fall into when we are too happy with our own objectivity.

As a manager coming from a technical backgrounds, I feel more susceptible to fall into the objectivity trap.

When we deal with machines and programs we often feel protected by a predictably rational world. Even when we often struggle with its intricacies, we can often come up with logical and rational solutions.

Dealing with humans is a different kettle of fish. The more confident we are in our judgments the more error prone they become. It is extremely difficult to assess people skills and performance if we do not establish cristal clear measures and KPIs. Yet, even if we do, it is still hard to escape biases like the Halo or the Pygmalion effects.

Then what should we do ?

Objectively ? I don’t know. I just try to embrace my own irrationality and chase my own biases. However, it is easier to spot flaws in other people reasonings that in ours. It is called the blind spot bias. That is why I recommend having a Spock Buddy. A friend whose mission is to help you detect, and accept, your own fallibility.

Fallibility. That is another word to put in my favorites list !