If you’re trying to effect change, whether for a client or within your team, business or company, understanding confirmation bias is an ability you want. This insight will support you in managing confirmation bias to create impactful change, however small or large.
Framing The Issue Of Confirmation Bias
First, we want to consider where our beliefs, attitudes, and opinions really come from. Most of us believe our convictions are logical, impartial, and objective. We like to imagine they’re the result of years of experience and a fair assessment of current circumstances and information available to us.
In reality, that’s rarely true. Every single one of us is a victim of our confirmation bias. Quite simply, this means we seek out and pay attention to information that supports our belief system. Simultaneously, we delete or ignore information that is contrary to what we believe.
Confirmation Bias In Business
Imagine you’re trying to install a new system at work that could potentially centralise interdepartmental communications and dramatically increase productivity if every team member engages with it fully.
You are tasked with sourcing the best supplier for the system and project managing the installation. You see a range of suppliers and in every meeting, you learn a little bit more about what these systems can do and you get more excited about the positive impact they can have on the business. With each learning comes a more vivid representation of what day-to-day work life will be like. You’re becoming a greater aficionado of the project with every passing day.
You select your supplier and you’re already 6 weeks into this project. Now, you embark on a 3-month implementation plan. In order to implement the system fully, you need to gain buy-in from key influencers and managers within the business. It’s going to take a group effort to get this system up and running. Then you hit a brick wall. You’re met with deathly silences to emails, lack of enthusiasm, and none of the information you need to progress your plan.
What Happened?
As you were forging ahead with your plans and getting excited about the future, you may have only communicated the potential for a powerful impact to your boss or the finance team signing off the payment.
Everyone else in the business may have a rough idea of what you’re working on, and yet they continue in the zone of ‘comfortable knowns’. If they’ve worked in the business for a long time, it’s likely they know how to use existing systems with ease and, since few people enjoy admin, and many see it as a time thief, it’s likely you’ll face resistance. The idea of a) having to prepare a high volume of reports, b) having to sit in meetings to discuss requirements and needs, and c) having to invest more time in learning a totally new system will feel prohibitive to their daily workload and less important than achieving existing targets.
Specifically, many people will have constructed an entire belief system around the idea ‘if it isn’t broken, why fix it?’
How Do You Fix It?
If you find yourself at this stage, you can influence a mindset shift in 3 simple steps. Firstly, you’ll want to interview some key influencers in the business, both those who are open to the new system and those who are highly resistant. You’ll want to understand what is causing the resistance, without any attempt to change their view at that point. Secondly, you’ll want to ask yourself what specific challenges is this system solving and what are the key benefits. Then you’ll want to find out what’s important for each of the key influencers (their values) around the main problem solved/solution delivered. Thirdly, you want to re-sell the idea of the project into each of the key influencers from their perspective. How specifically will it benefit each of them as individuals and how does it align with their values.
Helpful Questions
Remember the objective here is to gather information rather than to create a counterargument. Ask probing questions, get to the crux of the matter and consider the situation from the other person’s point of view. It’s really useful to ask questions that allow the other person to express their views clearly.
Resistance
1) I’ve noticed that some people feel resistant to this change and I wonder if you could help me appreciate their perspective?
2) What do you believe concerns people most about making this change?
3) What is your greatest concern?
4) What do you believe will be the impact if we implement this new system?
Values
Remember to clearly frame the core benefit in your own mind. Let’s say, it’s time-saving and a more accessible view of departmental activities. The questions you would ask are:
1) What’s important to you about saving time in your role?
2) What else, what else, what else?
3) What’s important to you about knowing precise project progress across all departments?
4) What else, what else, what else?
5) If the answer seems too specific, ask “what does that allow you to do” or “what do you get from that?”
Keep asking the questions until you have a list of concepts you can use to present a compelling argument.
Influencing Change
Lastly, you present your argument in a way that demonstrates respect for the other person’s point of view and shows them how the solution aligns with their values.
For example:
“I appreciate that it may take some extra work and planning to implement this system. You’re busy and you probably feel like I’m just adding to your workload. So, if I told you that in 3 months time I can probably shave 25% off the time you spend emailing and calling other departments to find out the status of projects, and you can create your monthly reports in 2 mins by just clicking a button, would that get you excited?”
A Time Investment
As you read this, you may be thinking this is a heavy time investment for you. So what is in it for you? The ability to drive your project forward, fully supported by the key influencers, who will then encourage others to get on board the train of change.
Ideally, we would gain this level of buy-in at the start of the project and use our knowledge and enthusiasm expansion to feedback exciting prospects to others at every step of the way. However, let’s face it, most of us learn this lesson with hindsight, and that’s okay too!
NLP Concepts: Managing Confirmation Bias To Impact Change
One of the important things to remember about Confirmation Bias is that people don’t want their minds changed by other people. Consequently, we want to ask enough questions to lead people in such a way that they can begin to appreciate the potential we can see. A strong convincer as a counter-argument can often cause a greater barrier to change. In the same way, feedback, when it is not wanted, can be incredibly destructive. It simply builds resistance.
So, listen and glean as much information about another person’s perspective as possible. Accept their point of view as completely valid. Then tailor your arguments to fit their model of the world so that they convince themselves to change their own minds.
To be an impactful influencer, it’s important to be able to appreciate other views and perceptions. Every time you engage in the type of process mentioned above, you’re learning to observe with more clarity, listen more carefully, improve your language skills, and expand your own model of the world.
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