Wednesday, February 10, 2021

Are Biases Holding You Back?

Being thoughtful about two common biases many of us practice can help you elevate your game and make the most of your work relationships

By Jayson Bueckert, Regional Director, Fort McMurray Member Centre

You know what I’m good at? Judging people. Might even be one of the best, actually!

You know what else I’m pretty good at? Making excuses for my failures. You too? Well don’t we make a fine pair!

It turns out these traits are something that many of us struggle with. There are even names for them: attribution bias and self-serving bias. Here’s a short version of what they are:

Attribution bias – We can’t see inside other people’s minds to know why they do what they do. So, we make it up by assuming their behaviour is caused by who they are as a person. For example, if someone cuts you off in traffic or says something harsh in the lunchroom, it’s because they are, at their core, a rude and inconsiderate person. But we don’t know that for sure! Maybe that person in the lunchroom just found out their GameStop shares plummeted that morning, and they bought in right at the peak! Maybe that’s why they’re a little testy—not because they have the heart of a goblin.
Self-serving bias – This is where we attribute our successes to how great a person we are and our failures to some external factor. In other words, we take credit for the good and we make excuses for the bad. This seems so obvious when we watch others do it, but for some reason, we can’t see it when we do it ourselves.

These two biases impact our lives in so many ways, especially at work. Being thoughtful about them can help you to elevate your game and make the most of your work relationships.

For example, most of your workday is spent trying to cooperate with others to achieve a task or goal. But while you’re trying to cooperate, you must manage all kinds of unclear messages coming from their behaviour.

Why did they bump into you in the hallway? Was it because they’re mean or because they’re feeling a bit shaky from low blood sugar levels?

Taking just a moment to think about your attribution bias can help you paint a much better picture of who that person is. And that can make all the difference in being able to enjoy working together.

The self-serving bias feels like a trickier task to get around. After all, it’s easy to see other people’s faults but it’s hard to admit your own. And yet the people that get promotions and move up in the company are most often the ones who learn from their mistakes.

Now, I admit, there are some people in management who got their job because they’re the nephew of the VP. But we’re not talking about them; we’re talking about you.

The surest way to show that you’re ready to move up is to share your successes with others and take responsibility for your mistakes.

It’s unlikely that people will stop using these two biases, and it’s not your responsibility to point these out to them. But, if you want to enjoy your coworkers a little more—and maybe be considered for that promotion—take some time to see whether you might be falling for these two biases a little too often.

Are Biases Holding You Back?

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