They say that one of the biggest challenges for detectives and crime scene investigators is to change course during an investigation due to the fact that the further we go down any particular path in our minds (due to previously made assumptions, deductions and findings) the more cemented in our minds those assumptions and deductions become.
In other words, the longer you hold onto an assumption, the more the mind believes it as a fact. It's called “confirmation bias”.
Confirmation Bias: The tendency to overvalue data that supports a pre-existing belief.
Confirmation Bias “occurs from the direct influence of desire on beliefs.
When people would like a certain idea/concept to be true, they end up believing it to be true. They are motivated by wishful thinking.
This error leads an individual to stop gathering information when the evidence gathered so far confirms the views (prejudices) one would like to be true.” -Psychology Today
On the surface, my partners and I couldn't be more different. Not only are we each half of a generation apart but we're each from very different social, economic and geographic backgrounds as well.
We’re a combination of introverts, extroverts, Type As and Type Zs.
We bring a variety of skill-sets to the table that range from photography and video production to culinary arts and digital linguistics...and to top it all off, each of us has a different set of religious beliefs... ranging from Evangelical to Atheist.
We’re often butting heads.
We come at almost everything from different perspectives - but the dynamic actually works because of the few traits we DO have in common namely; an irreverent sense of humor, a deep sense of personal responsibility to make things better than they need to be, an appreciation for challenges/puzzles and a mutual respect for each other.
I believe that it’s our differences, in combination with those few similarities, that facilitate (and nurture) a synergy among us as well as a sense of security that facilitates our ability to emotionally disconnect our ideas from our selves.
And what I mean by that is that, when someone criticizes an idea or direction we don’t take it personally.
In other words: It’s the few things we have in common that help define our culture and enable us to accept frequent and intense scrutiny of ideas from each other without that scrutiny feeling like a personal attack or personal judgement.
The bottom line is that we feel comfortable being challenged by each other and we accept the possibility that, in some instances, we are momentarily suffering from memory failure...or bias...or ignorance...or our emotions or a combination of all 4.
We'd probably have fun working on anything together because we not only enjoy challenging and pushing each other to consider possibilities; but because we regularly challenge each other to reconsider our own ideas and previous decisions that are often rooted in deep-seeded beliefs that are occasionally (and ironically) incongruent with our core values.
It’s that high level of mutual respect piece that diminishes the threatening nature of calling our beliefs into question and permits us to openly consider the fact that someone else might be right and that we might have it all wrong...even when we were convinced / all signs point to our conclusion being the right one.
That’s what we refer to as “...an awareness and appreciation of Confirmation Bias”
All 3 of us have a deep appreciation for the synergy created as a result of this dynamic.
It's what compels me to pause, backtrack and re-tell the trial and error history behind every decision that was made when each new member questions why we’re doing something a certain way.
It’s our collective willingness to backtrack and discuss how we got to where we are (instead of asking those who propose alternative paths to simply accept the fact that “we’ve already been down that path”) has resulted in us regularly re-opening our past and re-tracing our thought processes with the added advantage of alternative perspectives.
It’s this “operational rewind” that has not only helped forge our present course but continues to grant us license to pivot freely...which I think is vital to any team’s sustainable growth and to our finding the entire process so rewarding.
How aware is your team of Confirmation Bias and what role does that awareness play in your team’s synergy?
