Wanting to be right is deeply human. When our ideas are confirmed, we derive real satisfaction from it, and we tend to look for whatever prolongs it. That is confirmation bias: favouring information that agrees with us and downplaying information that contradicts us.
How it shows up in companies
- A diagnosis made too quickly, which is no longer questioned despite the facts.
- Data sought out to justify a decision already taken.
- Shop-floor feedback dismissed because it comes from “someone who always complains”.
- A solution that worked elsewhere, applied without checking that the context is the same.
Once an opinion has taken hold, it resists evidence to the contrary. In problem solving this is particularly dangerous: you end up fixing the cause you had imagined, not the one that exists.
The shop floor is always right. You still have to be willing to listen to it.
Three reflexes to guard against it
- Go and see: observe on site before concluding, and test your hypothesis against the facts.
- Actively look for what could invalidate your idea, not just what confirms it.
- Open up the discussion: ask the opinion of those who do not think like you, and really listen to it.
Open-mindedness is not a weakness in a leader. It is a condition for clear thinking. The best decisions rarely come from those who want to be right, but from those who seek to understand.
Key takeaways
- We spontaneously seek to confirm what we already think.
- In problem solving, the bias leads to treating the wrong cause.
- Go and see, look for contradiction, listen to dissenting views.
