Leadership – How to Eliminate

Cognitive Biases in Decision Making

Lisa Greenberg, Director of Special Education
Designs for Learning
February 1, 2022
Cognitive Bias – What is it?

• Cognitive bias is the tendency to make irrational judgments in a

consistent pattern
• Cognitive biases distort thinking and force people to make poor
and unreasonable decisions
• Our brains often rely on cognitive biases over hard evidence
Common Types of Cognitive Bias

• Dunning-Kruger Effect
• Confirmation Bias
• Anchoring Bias
• Self-Serving Bias
• Optimism Bias
• Availability Heuristic Bias
• Attentional Bias
• False Consensus Effect
Dunning-Kruger Effect

• We believe that we are smarter or more skilled than we are,

which prevents us from acknowledging our limitations or
weaknesses
• Explanation for the D-K Effect is that when we are not good at a
task, we don’t know enough to accurately assess our ability;
inexperience casts the illusion of expertise
• Ex: Amateur chess player overestimates their performance in an
upcoming chess tournament compared to their competent
opponent
Confirmation Bias

• We favor information that aligns with our existing beliefs

• We disregard evidence that doesn’t conform, even if it’s accurate
• Ex: Voters who ignore information from news broadcasters that
contradicts their existing views
Anchoring Bias

• We rely too much on pre-existing information or on the first piece

of information we receive
• Ex: Someone shopping for a used car might see a car for sale for
$13,000; if the next car they see is only $9,000, they might view
this car as cheap, regardless of the actual value of the car
Self-Serving Bias

• Tendency to attribute positive effects to ourselves and negative

effects to external factors
• We attribute internal, personal factors to positive outcomes but
external, situational factors to negative outcomes
• Ex: An athlete blames a bad referee call or other team cheating
when they lose a game, but praise their hard work, talent and
mental toughness when they win
Optimism Bias

• Tendency to overestimate our likelihood of experiencing positive

events and underestimating our likelihood of experiencing
negative events
• Ex: Smoker who believes he is less likely to contract lung cancer or
disease than other smokers
Availability Heuristic Bias

• Tendency to use information that comes to mind quickly and easily

when making decisions about the future
• Recent memories are given greater significance; because the
event is more recent, the perceived chance of it occurring again
increase significantly
• Ex: News of a recent shark attack may put many people off going
swimming in the ocean
Attentional Bias

• Tendency to pay attention to certain stimuli while ignoring others

at the same time
• We direct a much larger share of our focus toward a single option
or stimulus, and this comes at the expense of other things
• Ex: When really hungry, you may find yourself extremely
distracted by food related images or words, and you may have a
hard time thinking of anything other than food
False Consensus Effect

• Individual overestimates the level at which other people share

their beliefs, attitudes and behaviors
• We think our own opinions, attitudes, beliefs, etc. are common
and appropriate, so others must also feel the same way
• Ex: Believing that all of your friends think beer tastes better than
wine because you believe beer is better
How to address and eliminate these biases?
Create Decision-Making Protocols

• Create specific protocols for how decisions are made

• Layout decision-making process as a team; get input from
everyone on team
• Reference the process at the beginning of each meeting to ensure
it is utilized
Seek Multiple Perspectives

• Diversity of thought lends itself to better decision making

• Enables us to see the whole picture; draw different meanings and
conclusions from the same set of facts
• Solicit advice/feedback from others
• people you trust who will offer honest and constructive criticism and point
out blind spots while helping you gain fresh points of view
Go Against Your Inclinations

• Ask the question, “What would happen if I decided to move

forward in the opposite direction of what I originally chose?”
• Gather data to defend the opposite view
• Compare it to the data used to support your original idea
• Reevaluate your decision based on the bigger data set
• More balanced perspective
Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

• Three things are critical: humility, discomfort and discipline

• Real development/change occurs when we are uncomfortable
• Get other points of view to challenge our own vision
• Recognize that our experience is just that – OUR experience
Reflect on the Past

• Reflect on past similar scenarios

• Ask yourself how did you make that past decision?
• Ask what obstacles did you have and how did you overcome them?
• Ask what was the outcome and what did you learn?
Questions/Comments

• Thank you for attending!