Shortlist: Be aware of your brain’s bias

Our best ideas, quick and curated | March 4, 2022

Be aware of your brain’s bias

Julia Sperling‐Magro‚ a medical doctor and neuroscientist‚ is a partner in McKinsey’s Frankfurt office. She focuses on performance and health transformations‚ leadership development‚ and operating-model design.

If you think you will be completely objective in the decisions you make today‚ I’m here to tell you that assumption is incorrect. Your brain works by helping focus your attention. At any point in time‚ 11 million bits of information hit your brain, but only 70 get processed consciously‚ and you remember only seven properly in your short‐term memory.

Because of this enormous filtering exercise‚ your brain seeks patterns that make it easier to perform. The brain loves shortcuts‚ and it loves being correct. As a result‚ when you look out into the world you’re basically reconfirming whatever theory you’ve already formed with every piece of information you pick up. And that’s just one of the many cognitive biases to which we’re prone.

It is extremely difficult to remind yourself that you might be biased in the moment when you’re about to make a decision. Just being generally aware of your bias will most likely not help; you need some sort of “cue.”

A business leader I know was convinced that he was right all the time. So we established a devil’s advocate process to challenge his assumptions and strengthen his decision making. The problem was it didn’t work. Why not? Because he was emotionally attached to his beliefs. He became even more convinced that he was right after someone challenged him. In the end‚ the countermeasure that worked was to create a “red team” and a “blue team.” The red team argued his opinion‚ and the blue team argued the opposite. The leader could watch them having a discussion without feeling attacked.

Ultimately‚ what this leader really needed—and what all robust decisions need—is a more diverse set of perspectives throughout the process. Our affinity bias means that our teams‚ and especially leadership teams‚ are often homogenous. But we need people with different backgrounds‚ experiences‚ and ways of thinking to challenge our assumptions.

I discovered during implicit‐bias testing that I am moderately biased against women in leadership. This revelation came after years of supporting and promoting women in leadership roles. So I now have my own personal cue (or nudge): a handwritten note that says‚ “Why not a woman?” I bring it with me to every meeting where I might otherwise forget to live up to the inclusion principles I feel so strongly about.

Whether it’s your own note‚ or an inclusion app that reminds you not to interrupt others‚ or a trusted group that has your active permission to question your thinking‚ you need a prompt that tells you‚ “Pause and think before you react or decide.”

— Edited by Barbara Tierney

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