What’s Your Bias?

Whether we’re aware of them or not, biases shape our perceptions, decisions, and interactions with others. Formed by our experiences, values and environments, they influence our thinking, behaviour and how we interpret the world; when unchecked they can distort our judgment, limit our understanding, and perpetuate stereotypes. Martina Doherty discusses the impact of biases in the workplace.

At the recent Full FX event in London, I had the pleasure of moderating a panel on ‘The Future of the FX Workplace’ with a group of millennials in front office roles across different banks and vendors. Topics covered included remote work, workplace wellbeing, generational differences, leadership skills for the future as well as predictions for the future of work in the sector.

Post-panel feedback was overwhelmingly positive and a recurring theme from the conversations I had was the surprise that these ‘millennial opinions’ were more aligned to those of the more mature workforce (Gen X and Baby Boomers) than previously thought – specifically around favouring office work over remote work (while acknowledging that hybrid is the preferred model for the majority of positions), and seeing the value in a multi-generational workplace because of the different skills that each generation can bring.

While the positive feedback was definitely a good thing, what was glaringly obvious to me was how bias is so prevalent in our everyday work and environment – in this specific instance the generalisations many of us make about millennials and the younger workforce, which them leads us to label, judge and often misunderstand them.

If the panel discussion in any way helped dispel any myths and labels around this generation in our industry, then that’s a good thing – but it does beg the bigger question of bias and how it can get in our way in terms of we perceive and behave towards our peers and colleagues.

For clarity I define bias as the mental shortcuts we make to selectively and subjectively process information. These can be implicit, where we are unconscious of the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, decisions and behaviour, or explicit, where we are consciously aware of our beliefs and attitudes about a person or group. Both can have positive or negative inclinations, which makes them slightly different to prejudice, which is specifically negative and involves preconceived negative opinions based on stereotypes.

As humans having bias is part of our DNA so I think it’s impossible and unrealistic to think we eliminate it

According to Cognitive Bias Codex there are an estimated 180 cognitive biases, which, when looking at them, makes you wonder what isn’t a bias – whether you are sticking your head in the sand (ostrich bias), a pessimist (pessimism bias), or a self-serving individual (self-serving bias) it would seem that by including the word ‘bias’ on the end, makes it one. But if you look back to my definition of bias as a mental shortcut to process information or form opinions, then I guess this makes sense.

For today’s article, I will dive into the top five biases I’ve encountered over my 30-year career in a markets environment which will hopefully offer insights and food for thought to you all.

1. First up is Blind Spot Bias – for anyone who thinks they aren’t particularly biased, the bad news is that you are. Having biases is human and everyone has them – so if you think you don’t have bias and are much more objective than others, you are suffering from blind spot bias – especially prevalent when think you can spot biases in others rather than yourself.
2. The Bandwagon effect – this is the bias that causes people to think or act in a certain way if they believe others are doing the same. One could argue that this isn’t necessarily a bad thing in a markets environment – especially when trading in volatile markets! However, it is much more widespread than you might initially think. From my experience, leadership teams regularly make decisions on their product development or marketing activities based on what the competition is doing, rather than questioning whether it really aligns with their own strategy. In my previous life I worked on many marketing campaigns that were purely a reactive response to a competing product or organisation, and then when it didn’t generate the expected results…

3. The Outcome bias came into play. This is where performance and/or the efficacy of a decision is evaluated primarily on the end result, without acknowledging ‘how’ it was achieved or ‘why’ the particular project or activity was pursued in the first place. In my current role, working with leaders and organisations to develop their people and culture, this bias is especially challenging to address—particularly in a sector where success is typically measured by contribution to the bottom line. Despite claims to the contrary, P&L trumps everything in our world, with very little thought given to how it is achieved or the conditions that may influence it. This is why toxic high-performers continue to survive and are almost revered, and those that don’t reach their P&L targets becomes become vulnerable to redundancy – even if he/she has previously had a great track record and may be an excellent team leader and we just haven’t thought about the other conditions that might be contributing to their current performance.

4. Authority bias – This is the tendency to trust someone or listen more carefully if they’re an authority figure than if they’re not. This is closely linked to generational bias since we often assume that just because someone hasn’t been in a job as long as ourselves, or doesn’t have a certain rank or status, their opinions are less valuable and therefore not particularly useful.
5. Confirmation bias – This is the tendency to pay attention to information or perspectives that confirm what we already know or validate the information we already have – and we dismiss anything that may challenge that. It is why we tend to gravitate towards and value the opinions of people similar to us because it is both reassuring and helps reinforce the credibility of our own views. But in all honesty that is akin to reading your horoscope – your find the interpretation that supports your perspective.

This is particularly dangerous in a hiring scenario where of course you want to hire someone who fits the team and the culture. But if everyone is always on the same page, how can you grow and innovate as a team? Who wants the hassle of dealing with someone ‘difficult’ who constantly challenges your ideas and expertise? As the saying goes, ‘nobody gets fired for buying IBM’ and in a heavily regulated risk-averse environment the confirmation bias protects against potential criticism or blame for making a wrong decision.

So, can you eliminate bias? As humans having bias is part of our DNA so I think it’s impossible and unrealistic to think we eliminate it, but bias can and should be managed to help mitigate its negative effects.

To do that my first recommendation is to be aware of your biases (multiple!) and how they might be showing up for you and your team or your peers. If you don’t know, think back to some recent conversations or decisions you made recently. And if you really don’t think you have any, scroll back up this article to No. 1 on my list – the blind spot bias!

Then consider how these might be influencing how you think or behave. Are there factors such as overconfidence or self-interest at play when you make decisions? Do you really listen to the other side of the argument when it’s delivered by someone you don’t really like? Deploying a bit of critical thinking and curiosity around what influences your decisions may help you make better choices in life and work. Or will it? Maybe that’s just my optimism bias coming through…

Martina Doherty is an independent business psychologist, coach and trainer, and founder of MD Consulting