- [Educator] Reducing workplace bias.
The normalcy bias is the assumption
that dramatic changes aren't going to occur,
and that life will continue in fundamentally the same way.
The normalcy effect can lead to complete underestimation
of the dangers and threats
that might exist in different areas of life.
This can lead to poor planning,
and a disastrous lack of preparation.
The lesson and meditation will increase awareness
and the recognition of the dangers of the normalcy bias,
improving the chances of realistic
and effective recognition and planning.
The normalcy bias is the tendency to gravitate to the normal
when considering current and especially future conditions
that offer completely new challenges.
What this can mean is a disastrous failure
to successfully adapt to events
that have never happened before
and are thus not part of one's experience.
The normalcy bias has come
into play significantly in the last 20 years
because of the pace of technological innovation.
For example, many brick
and mortar companies did not see the impact of technology,
and especially online shopping,
and as a result failed to adapt accordingly.
Interestingly, it wasn't that
these companies couldn't see the trends
that were developing.
It's more like they couldn't effectively relate to them,
because they hadn't happened before.
It was as if these were just ideas
rather than impending realities.
They had no experience of the predicted changes,
and were looking at them from a more conservative mindset.
Because new ideas, by definition, haven't been manifested,
and those manifestations weren't experienced.
Some companies were stuck with the normalcy mindset.
Whether it was a difficulty understanding
what the predictions actually meant,
or stubborn commitment to the normal or both,
probably varies from situation to situation.
Remember, people are more likely than not
to refute that Armageddon is actually coming.
In a rapidly changing world,
a normalcy bias can obviously be a hindrance
to an organization's development as well as its survival.
For example, how have organizations individually adapted
to the total disruption to marketing
with the advent of social media?
I am sure there are companies
who early on in the social media revolution, invested time,
effort and money in training their marketers
to learn about social media
and adapt newer marketing strategies,
while others plotted on with their normal practices.
The latter were in serious danger of being left behind
and having to play catch up with the competition,
not to mention incurring losses on normal marketing
that stopped paying the dividends it used to.
Success very often comes from being an early adapter
to a new trend and impending innovation.
This has become increasingly obvious in the past 20 years,
and in some ways, such disruption is the new normal.
However, there will always be challenges
that are underestimated by some,
for example, how will climate change,
however, instigated affect every aspect of life,
there is definitely a chance
it will be like nothing ever experienced before.
That makes it both daunting,
but also more prone to dismissal through the normalcy bias.
Part of that bias is that we simply don't want to admit
that major transitions are recurring,
they make us feel more uncertain than ever.
And if cognitive bias has one function,
it is to help us retain our sense of control.
The problem has always is how do you really get your head
around predicted possible changes?
And how do you scale not just their probability,
but their impact?
One way of course is to be open
to the possibility of anything, even if it is frightening
and threatens to turn your world upside down.
Remember that what you consider normal today
was once considered an outrageous fantasy.
Meditation.
"If you have always done it that way,
"it is probably wrong."
Charles Kettering
"There is only one thing stronger than all the armies
"of the world.
"And that is an idea whose time has come."
Victor Hugo.
"Learning and innovation go hand in hand.
"The arrogance of success is to think that
"what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow."
William Pollard.
As you relax, and seed your need
to control the environment around you,
and your previous stories and narratives,
allow memories to spontaneously pass
through your consciousness.
As you see memories of past decisions,
you can see your choices and action.
You can see some of the decisions you have made
that have had major implications in your life.
The salient experiences and choices will come to mind.
Are there times when you have adopted a normalcy bias
and been too conservative in your thinking?
Have you clung on to the old ways of doing things
because they are comfortable and don't require change?
If you have always done it that way, it is probably wrong.
Sometimes you need to move out of your comfort zone
and embrace new scenarios.
Sometimes your comfort zone can become a discomfort zone,
if not a disaster area.
The ability to embrace change is
an essential leadership skill.
The ability to see what is normal
and look beyond it is an essential management skill.
Look outside the box, the box of normalcy.
Normalcy is a comfortable box, but it is also confining.
It can seem like a nice hotel suite,
but it can also be a jail cell.
The arrogance of success is to think
that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow.
Normalcy is comfortable and comfort and be dangerous.
Reducing workplace bias.