- [Narrator] Reducing workplace bias.
The availability bias is a core distortion
in which our perceptions are influenced
by the available information we have been exposed to.
So for example, immediately after news of a plane disaster,
people will question their willingness to ever fly again,
at least while the disaster is still in the news.
The availability cascade
is like the availability bias on steroids.
It is described as a self-reinforcing process
in a collective belief that gains more plausibility
as a result of it being regularly repeated
in the cultural discourse.
This is sometimes known as repeat something long enough
and it will become true.
While that definitely applies in the main culture,
it can also apply in organizational cultures too.
For example, do you employ the same type of person?
Is your organization made up of people
with effectively the same cultural beliefs and mindsets?
Do they share many beliefs
about working, success, management, engagement,
productivity and so on?
How diverse mentally is your organization?
Do the mantras, phrases and expressions
that are dominant in your organization
reflect a fundamental truth, or do they just sound good?
Are they well supported by scientific and factual evidence,
or do they simply make good copy?
Do they even make sense in today's culture,
or are they traditional ideas passed down
through generations that have outlived their usefulness?
For example, senior management
might rightly put a lot of emphasis on communication,
and specifically on the finding
that 93% of all communication is non-verbal.
This might influence their practices and become enshrined
in a mantra such as 93 is what matters to me.
This mantra will be repeated endlessly
and become a critical part
of thinking about communication within the organization.
It will be enshrined in training
at all levels of the organization.
It will appropriately enough be the unspoken rule
of interaction when dealing with each other
and with customers.
The idea will prevail from the boardroom to the shop floor.
The problem is that the study which suggested
that 93% of all communication is non-verbal
has been seriously misunderstood.
The study conducted by Albert Mehrabian
involve the experimenter standing up
and saying a few emotionally Laden words.
Subjects, all women had to interpret his meaning
and not surprisingly 93% of the cues
came from the non-verbal aspects of the communication.
So if you say just a few words,
your non-verbal behavior will communicate the message.
The more you say,
the more the actual verbal message becomes important.
Mehrabian's study is a good example
of the availability cascade, because it has grabbed
a lot of attention and the results repeated endlessly,
generally without context.
This often happens in the culture,
but you need to ensure it doesn't impact
your organizational environment.
It can happen a lot with wellness fads
and psychological theories with the availability cascade
elevating a totally unproven idea
into the latest pseudoscientific fad.
For example weight loss, skincare,
astrology, et cetera, et cetera.
It's important that your core concepts
and key practices are informed by science
and not pseudoscience and the latest fads.
So if you're going to elevate an idea
by repeatedly using it throughout your organization,
make sure that it has some credibility
and is based on a good scientific footing,
and isn't merely a reworked infomercial script.
Do you know what the commonly held beliefs
in your organization actually are?
Are there aspects of the organization
that promote specifically held beliefs?
Are there vehicles in the organization like newsletters,
blogs, emails, group communications
that foster the adoption of certain beliefs and ideas,
are those tools disseminating accurate ideas,
or are they creating a group mindset
that can be detrimental?
Meditation.
Where all think alike,
there is little danger of innovation, Edward Abbey.
The problem of the availability cascade,
especially in an organizational culture
is that it can lead to group think,
seriously limiting creativity and innovation potential.
It can create a restrictive and limiting culture
where all sorts of beliefs are elevated
to unchallenged truth.
It can also create a culture where there is resistance
to creativity, innovation, and change.
Sometimes it is more important
to research what you think you know,
rather than what you think you don't know.
Knowledge can be a dangerous thing,
especially if it is accepted uncritically.
Knowledge is in a constant state of flux.
It changes quickly, especially in today's high technology,
hyper communicated world.
Great leaders challenge the prevailing wisdom,
including their prevailing wisdom.
They know that at some point
the prevailing wisdom stops prevailing.
Do you know the prevailing ideas in your organization?
Which ideas are based in truth?
Which ideas are merely beliefs that have no factual basis?
Which of those commonly held beliefs
come from a misunderstanding of science
or established facts?
Which commonly held beliefs benefit the organization?
How do they do that?
Which commonly held beliefs
are a detriment to the organization?
How do they do that?
How can that situation be changed?
How do you contribute to your organization's
or any group's collective beliefs?
A culture generates and creates beliefs and opinions.
Those beliefs and opinions can
and often do shape motivation, productivity, and engagement.
Those beliefs and opinions can define your organization.
When all think alike, there is little danger of innovation.
Are different views and opinions
tolerated within your organization?
An organization that fosters respect for different opinions
and different ways of doing things is doing more
than creating an engaged and innovative culture.
It is helping people step out of their own egos.
It is helping people realize
the limitation of their thinking.
It is making people more open
to the ideas of others, and other ideas.
It is making people more tolerant as well as respectful.
When all think alike, there is little danger of innovation.
When all are tolerant and respectful of other opinions,
there is a massive danger of innovation and connection
and engagement and meaning.
The availability cascade
can threaten your organization or culture.
When all think alike, there is little danger of innovation.
When all are tolerant and respectful of other opinions,
there is a massive danger of innovation and connection,
and engagement and meaning.
Reducing workplace bias.