When we present new ideas that are better or different to what currently exists they carry the weight of uncertainty. This is a problem we all face. What is uncertain is unappealing. And everything right now, everyone says, is uncertain. But just like there’s a flip side to everything the same applies to uncertainty.
See this exchange between Patch Adams and Arthur Mendelson from the Movie Patch Adams:…
in Behavior, Innovation, Psychology, Strategy
The interesting discussion we had about innovation being a matter of age brought up a lot of insights. One in particular, was that to breed innovation, an environment is more important than the age of the innovator. How this works is a little complicated to understand, but let me explain how a cognitive bias impedes us from seeing change coming from our environment, and then use some examples of how tweaking the environment makes change simple.…
in Behavior, Innovation, Psychology
“It is difficult to lay aside a confirmed passion.” – Caius Valerius Catullus
Aha! you got an idea and you want to do some research to know if you’re idea has wings. You setup google alerts, hashtags about related topics on twitter, follow people in the know, join related groups on Linkedin, etc. You know the drill!
Soon after you start receiving information, this information looks familiar to you, it makes sense. Other people are talking about the same thing, you engage them and start exchanging ideas which start taking on a life of their own. This confirms your hunch, you get more excited because your idea has wings. Bangarang! you’re sure to be a gazillionaire!
Sound familiar?
This is the confirmation bias.
Whenever we have an idea, instead of searching for ways to prove our ideas wrong, we usually attempt to prove them correct. Once we see a pattern we do not easily let go of it, we keep digging and digging to see that pattern more and more. Sometimes there isn’t even a pattern there but we somehow ‘want’ to believe there is. You know all too well how this plays out in any organization.
Let’s change that. Time to turn off your lizard brain and engage your critical, truth seeking side of your brain.
In order to fight the confirmation bias let’s do the opposite: learn to spend as much time looking for ‘evidence’ that we are wrong as we spend searching for reasons that we are correct.
It’s not fun trying to prove we’re not the hotshots we think we are but the truth shall set you free.
