The Streetlight Effect

Dear you,

Have you ever wondered why people make the same mistakes over and over again? Why do people behave in a certain way even though it doesn't benefit them in any way?

I just learnt that it is caused by what we term "The Streetlight Effect" or Observational bias.

A Short Story to explain this concept:

A policeman sees a drunk man searching for something under a streetlight and asks what the drunk has lost. He says he lost his keys and they both look under the streetlight together.

After a few minutes, the policeman asks if he is sure he lost them here, and the drunk replies, no, and that he lost them in the park.

The policeman asks why he is searching here, and the drunk replies, “This is where the light is”. WOW!

I illustrated this in an Instagram post years ago? -?https://www.instagram.com/p/CALd5dnHR3O/

The streetlight effect is a metaphor for our tendency to look for results in familiar places. What we are seeking may mostly lie in the shadows we are avoiding by going with the familiar.

Always ask yourself the following questions:

1. What are you searching for?
2. Where are you searching?
3. What is your measure of success?
4. What are your?biases? and how are they affecting your?decision-making, your?life and your business?

Don’t seek answers where the looking is good; rather seek answers where they’re likely to be found - in the shadows.

Keep grinding,

Uwem