Falling prey to bias
Humans evaluate information in a biased manner. For instance, we often fall prey to confirmation bias; the tendency to focus on evidence that confirms our beliefs and assumptions rather than looking for information that contradicts it. Making matters worse:
1) We often do not realize that such biases weaken our judgments and decisions.
2) When others confront us with our biases, we may have difficulty listening to their feedback and learning from it, especially when it is inconsistent with the way we view ourselves and our work.
3) We tend to avoid discussing our weaknesses and mistakes, choosing instead to dwell on what we’ve done right. Making our list of biases and problematic tendencies transparent, and making it acceptable to do something about them, has the potential to be helpful. It can encourage more open conversations where people challenge one another in search of the right solution, rather than to prove themselves right.