Three Ways to Avoid Biased Thinking

Recently, I came across a Business Insider Australia article from 2015 that shared 20 cognitive biases that affect our decisions. After seeing them one thought I had was, “These are very relevant to today’s pandemic world”. Another thought I had was, “There are 20 of them?!”

Some of the ones I related to the most included Bandwagon Effect (adopting a belief because a large number of others also believe the same way), Confirmation Bias (listening only to information that reinforces what we already believe), and Availability Heuristic (letting personal experience outweigh what data would contradict). Bias affects everyone, even the most objective among us because it is a human trait and occurs below our conscience before we have a chance to recognize it and stop it.

Validation and reflection are two techniques you can use to analyze your thinking and decision-making process as you earnestly work to identify the biases that trip you up.

Here are three things you can do to help yourself:

1.) Question why something is popular.

Before you join the majority around you ask why this idea or belief is so widely accepted. Remember that old saying that there is safety in numbers. Many will join in groupthink because they assume others know more about the topic and if the majority concludes the same way it must be safe, true, or best...not so fast. Ask someone you know who believes something popular why they have joined the crowd. Verify it is based on actual facts and data, not an easy way to get out of an independent decision. Ask questions before accepting the status quo. Resist the temptation to go along to get along.

2.) Make the counterargument.

I recently heard the story of a 1950s British physician who was a Fellow at the Royal College of Physicians doing work in the field of cancer prevention. To ensure the research being conducted was valid, the doctor hired an assistant whose only job was to actively dismantle the proposed theories and disprove them. Imagine having someone paid to undo your progress every day! Not many people could handle it, but you can see how solid research conclusions would become as a result. And by the way, her name is Dr. Alice Stewart and her recommendations ended up dramatically reducing childhood cancers (did bias have you thinking the physician was a man?). In team meetings, set ground rules that require that multiple sides of an approach be vigorously debated. People must feel safe to be openly contrarian. Require it. It is vital to critical thinking.

3.) Do your own research.

This combats the Availability Heuristic bias I mentioned earlier. This puts more weight on your own personal experience over the statistical averages; i.e., just because I personally have never been in a plane crash doesn’t mean they don’t happen. As another example, you may think that the headlines on pit bull attacks are inflated because you own one and it is a most gentle family dog and has never attacked anyone. Instead of basing your opinion solely on your experience, do your own research. Go directly to the source: data published by industry associations, talk to a vet, ask people at a dog park what their experience has been with dog attacks. At work, the same recommendations apply. Don’t just believe the rumor mill. Directly ask for information from someone in the know. Verify independent information before taking action. 

Those in leadership have an additional responsibility to not allow biased thinking to affect how they treat others especially when it comes to employment decisions. If anything, bias to the positive by assuming the person’s best intent. Be skeptical before joining the crowd. Seek counter opinions. Take an honest look at yourself and validate that you are seeing things objectively.

It is easy to live in our own realities, especially with remote work and personalized social media feeds. It lulls us into a false sense of knowing what we think is the truth and what we consider to be fact. By being aware of our biases we can get back to mutual understanding and ultimately, better decision making.