Author: cbarney.45

There are three types of biases that I’ve been reading about/thinking about recently. We all subconsciously are biased, but the first step to minimizing these biases is to be aware that they exist. Read the three types below to understand a little more about how we are biased and what we can do to help prevent this in the future…

1) Confirmation bias – When you want something, often times you only look for facts that support your opinion. How do you combat this? Play devil’s advocate. Instead of trying to find information that agrees with you, start by looking for credible information that disproves your theory.

2) Superiority bias – When you think that your qualities, abilities, or opinions are better than everyone else’s. What to do to avoid superiority bias? Don’t discount or disqualify someone else’s opinion just because it did not come from you or because it is not congruent with your way of thinking. Try to understand where that person is coming from. Try to see the valid points that they are making.

3) Attribution bias – When we make a mistake, we think it’s because of something outside of our control, but when others make a mistake it must be because of something they did or a character flaw that they have. Action step to take? Don’t deflect. Take ownership of the results that happen under your watch. Often times, we are too lenient with ourselves and hold others to a different standard.

There’s a reason why the windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror. Look forward. Look towards your future. Concentrate on what’s in front of you so you can safely get to where you want to go. You can glance back at the past, but it should not be your main focus…you’ll never get to where you want to be by looking in the rear view mirror (living in the past).

The goal of the leader should not be to come up with all of the great ideas. It should be to develop an environment that inspires and encourages others to come up with and share great ideas.

Work on building a culture that supports the team, that encourages team members to take calculated risks, and to think outside the box. Do not punish those who try something new, as long as it was ethical and wasn’t done haphazardly. If you do punish those who try new things, you kill their creativity. If you criticize their ideas publicly (not just poking holes in their ideas or playing devil’s advocate, but are dismissive or rude), don’t expect them to share their ideas or thoughts in the future.

Everything that we do or say has an impact on those around us. It takes a lot of time to build the right culture, but with just a few negative actions, you can undo all of the work that you’ve tried so hard to build. Stay positive. Be encouraging. And don’t be the bottleneck for your organization. All of the great ideas don’t have to come from you. If they do, you might be in trouble.

Idea:

Simplicity is the work of geniuses. If you want someone to do something, reduce the barriers for them to do it. If you ask someone to do something that is difficult, inconvenient, or confusing, they will be less likely to even attempt what you’ve asked.

How to implement:

Keep your ask simple, keep the directions simple, keep the task simple. Be clear and concise in how you present the ask. Ask them if they have any questions about what it is you’re trying to get them to do. Then get them to verbalize the agreement and repeat back to you what you’re agreeing on and when it will get done.

The reasoning behind the “how to”:

This last part of the “how to implement” is often overlooked, but very important. You want them to repeat back to you what needs to be done so you know that you’re both on the same page and that nothing was misinterpreted. You and the other person should have an agreed-upon deadline to minimize frustrations. If someone thought it would be done in a day and the other person thought they could get to it within a month, there will be a lot of frustration due to a lack of clear expectations. And lastly, having the other person verbalize all of this (where they are actively engaged/participating) will make them feel more bought-in to the action plan. If they feel like it’s their own, like they have ownership of it, they will be more likely to finish it.

It’s great to have heroes in your life that can swoop in when there’s a problem and save the day. It’s even better to be the hero of your own story. But do you know what’s the best? To be in a situation that doesn’t require a hero in the first place. Sure, the hero can be on standby, but instead of reacting to circumstances, let’s be proactive in not letting the situation escalate to where a hero is needed. It’s the boring answer, but it’s true.

I understand that not all situations that require heroes to step up are a result of mismanagement. But if you find that there are recurring issues at work or in life (“fires” that continually have to be put out), you are probably lacking effective processes.

Try to think proactively, not reactively. After you’re done putting a fire out, think about how the fire got so big in the first place. Ask yourself, “what could we have done differently to avoid letting this happen?” and then work to solve those issues.

Don’t have problem blindness. Sometimes, when you are in an industry for so long, you think, “Well, that’s just the way it is. We can’t do anything about that in this business.” But is that really true? Is that the way it always has to be or is that the way it is right now because of how you are approaching the situation? Can you do something different to achieve a different outcome? Think outside of the box. Diverge from the status quo. To be revolutionary/innovative, you have to do things differently. To do things differently, you have to think differently.

Do yourself a favor and work hard to avoid needing a hero now, otherwise you’ll have to battle the stress of needing/being a hero later.