Long lasting and deeply embedded thinking patterns limit us in our activities and lead to flawed decisions. For us. In our team. In our organisation.
Your thinking patterns - are you aware how they work?
Your unconscious
biases - do you know them?
Every activity that supports in this direction enhances the quality and effectiveness.
You benefit from this in different ways: you think clearer, you decide
more consciously and you implement more effectively.
We live in a dynamic, strongly connected and hence more complex world.
The
acceleration, intensification and higher requirements result from the
development over the last 200 years.
However, our brain originates from a
time where all these topics were irrelevant.
Intense research around the fascinating topic "how does our brain operate" has proven impressively that:
Key is that all these processes operate unconsciously, so we are not aware of them!
Nobel price winner Daniel Kahneman has created the term "system 1" for the unconscious, fast, automatic and intuitive functioning of our brain. This autopilot takes care of almost all decisions, however it works flawlessly only in a simple context with low complexity.
Complex situations need a different approach. Hence, our brain is able to
operate in a logical, slow and analytical mode (which is called "system 2" by
Kahneman).
We tend to identify ourselves strongly with this part of our
thinking, i.e. the ratio. However, research has proven that we activate this
system 2 significantly less often as it consumes a lot of energy and tires
quickly.
Develop your competence to activate system 2 when it really counts!
Our autopilot leads us through life accurately most of the time - however, we need to consider the following elements:
The continuously growing flood of information, time pressure, more uncertainty and multitasking reinforce this phenomenon massively.
Biases work on the individual level, interpersonally as well as in teams and
organisations.
Around 200 different biases have been identified so far, they
impact our daily life.
On the individual level we are affected in the areas of perception (i.e. what is my reality), judgement and decisions. We all have the choice to deal with our highly personal imprinting, thinking patters and prejudices, hence with the foundations of our biases. The more consciousness and clarity we create, the more we take control and steering as well as responsibility for ourselves. "Know thyselves!" has been one of the central themes in the Greek ancient world for a reason.
The second highly relevant aspect in times of digitalisation concerns our permanent confrontation with commercial interests of all kind. Companies invest a lot of efforts to understand our behavior and decisions better, our biases are part of this as well.
In the context of teams, businesses and organisations biases have a significant effect as well. Studies and surveys (for instance from McKinsey or the Economist Intelligence Unit) have shown that:
Unconscious biases and the following wrong decisions can impact heavily:
Biases are costly, biases are avoidable.
Thinking clearly,
deciding consciously and implementing effectively are the foundations of
business success.
I join you in reducing your unconscious biases in those areas which make the difference - via specific de-biasing measures.
Wikipedia includes the following definition of debiasing:
"Debiasing is the reduction of bias, particularly with respect to judgment and decision making. Biased judgment and decision making is that which systematically deviates from the prescriptions of objective standards such as facts, logic, and rational behavior or prescriptive norms."
It is an area in the discipline of behavioral economics which has established itself as new scientific discipline in the recent decades - reinforced by granted Nobel prizes to D. Kahneman or R. Thaler.
*Sometimes the term is spelled "debiasing" - these quotes are left with their original spelling.
McKinsey has found several positive effects in a business context
During the last years several major companies have realised the importance of
de-biasing. Mainly US based businesses like Facebook or Google have worked out
specific measures for their employees.
In an survey by McKinsey, executives
have stated the target of reducing unconscious biases in decisions as their top
strategic ambition.
You are in good company when you define and implement specific debiasing measures!
Unconscious biases are deeply rooted both on the individual level and in corporate cultures and processes. They easily create "blind spots", in particular in the core area of a business. From this follows that thinking errors and distorted perceptions pose a significant risk for success, in the worst case for the continuation of an organisation.
Consequently, specific and individual measures are needed which are defined depending on the context, the business model and connected decision processes. A standard training, regardless of being conducted in person or online, cannot be more than an introduction into the subject - it is no solution yet of the underlying factor!
I am a practical person and have realised the importance of dealing with unconscious biases years ago. It quickly showed that there was no fitting offering to transfer the theoretic insights into my former corporate environment, hence making it really tangible.
Consequently, my focus was to develop a relevant toolbox which addresses our thinking errors and which is applicable in a concrete business context. The results were in-house trainings and the integration of de-biasing in decision processes in one of the ten largest corporations in Austria.
I have been part of company structures, decisions processes and senior management meetings for two decades and helped to shape them. My approach is un-theoretical but practical and well grounded - my objective is that you take those elements with you that help you on a daily basis.
You receive an individual package from me which covers your specific targets- Let's talk!
Mind your thinking
Mind your decisions
Mind your implementation