3 min read · Jul 1, 2019
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Cognitive Biases are patterns of thinking or reasoning that cloud people’s judgment and affect their decision making. Cognitive bias makes us draw conclusions about people and situations from our own perceptions or experience. This biases can lead to bad decisions and judgments. Here are some examples of cognitive Biases that affect teamwork:
The Hindsight Bias
The hindsight bias is commonly known as the “Knew it all along” phenomenon. It occurs when people making decisions or judgments from the outcome of previous events. They believe that they can predict the outcome of an event before the occurrence of the event.
For instance, as a college student when I study for an examination I sometimes skip some part of the study material with the assumption I already know the information the part I skipped was trying to pass along. However, during the examination period, the presence of multiple choice questions with different answers made me realize that I didn’t actually know the study material as well as I thought I did.
How does this hindsight bias affect teamwork?. Hindsight bias can lead to overconfidence. It tends to make team members think they already know the outcome of a particular problem since they faced a similar situation before. This isn’t always true and could lead to bad decisions and judgments.
The Confirmation Bias
The confirmation bias occurs when people tend to make decisions and judgment based on their pre-existing beliefs. They tend to favor information that complies with the beliefs they already have.
Imagine during a decision-making meeting, there was a disagreement in an idea brought up by a particular team member. But the head of the company favors the idea of this particular team member. Or a scenario where the head of a company has an idea of the “next big thing” and directs his team to work on the idea. Can you see confirmation bias written all over?. The head of the company is making decisions and judgment based on ideas because it conforms to his existing idea rather than reasons why the idea would or wouldn’t work for his company. This could lead to flawed decision making.
Fundamental Attribution Error
Fundamental Attribution Error is the tendency for people to judge others based on their behavior rather than the social and environmental forces that made the person behave that way. They believe their own and others action is based on the kind of person they are.
Have you ever found yourself complaining about your manager “He is such a dictator? He doesn't care about the decisions of teams in the company” or about a colleague at work “He always comes to work late and always late to meetings”. It’s very easy to judge or misattribute someone’s behavior without finding out the reasons behind the person’s behavior.
Fundamental Attribution Error could lead to distrust in a team and makes it hard for members of a team to work together cohesively and maintain healthy working conditions.
Belief Bias
Belief bias is when we form an opinion about the logic of an idea or decision based on the truth or falsity of the conclusion rather than the merits and demerits. It occurs when a person accepts a conclusion as true because they are believable rather than because they are logically valid. A person is more likely to accept and support a conclusion that conforms with his own ideas and beliefs rather than one that doesn't.
For example, if the management of a company believes that a product should be released for the market believing the product is their best possible option to go to market. Any proposal by the team in the company favoring another product over the product would likely be rejected. Belief bias could hinder the company’s growth since they were blinded by the belief on the product and most likely come to a wrong conclusion.
