At work and in life, we may sometimes fall victim to cognitive biases. These are patterns of thinking that affect the rationality and accuracy of our judgements, often unconsciously.
To be at the top of our game, it is important to be aware of the biases we tend to have and catch them before they lead us to make unwise decisions.
Here are some common cognitive biases you may encounter in your daily work, and how to avoid them:
1. Confirmation Bias
We tend to search for and remember information that confirms our wishes and perceptions. This creates the risk of filtering out potentially useful facts and opinions that don’t align with our beliefs.
How to avoid it: Proactively seek alternative ideas and information. If you use search engines to do research, avoid typing in affirmative statements such as “long emails are bad”. Frame it as a question instead – for example, "are long emails bad?"
2. Availability Heuristic
When we evaluate our options in decision-making, we tend to reference information that comes quickly and easily to our minds. These can be events that are recent or more memorable, such as current news events.
When screening candidates for a job position, for example, the availability heuristic may cause us to view the most recent candidates more favourably as compared to others.
How to avoid it: Consider overall trends and patterns to see information as part of a bigger picture. If you are working in a group, try red teaming (playing the role of the adversary or competitor) or appointing a devil’s advocate. This can help the group to be aware of biases taking effect.
3. Framing Bias
Every piece of information that we see has been framed a certain way. The choice of wording used in a news headline or report title, for example, steers us towards a certain opinion.
This bias works in our favour in certain situations, such as marketing a campaign or explaining the results of a project, when the positive or attractive details can be emphasised. But it becomes harmful when we make decisions based on information without considering how it was presented to us.
How to avoid it: Widen your perspective by considering how other sources would present the same information. Another tactic is to rephrase the information and see whether your conclusions from it have changed.