What are the most common biases that hinder strategic thinking?

Everyone likes to believe their opinion is correct. Accordingly, we tend to search out the information that supports our point of view. Take a pause. Ask "What if I'm wrong?" Flip the tables on your default approach.

It’s important to surround yourself with people who think differently. I encourage leaders to build cognitively diverse teams to enable this. A great book - willful blindness by Margret Heffernan dives deep in to this topic.

Confirmation Bias: Preferring information that confirms existing beliefs. Overconfidence Bias: Overestimating abilities, leading to risky decisions. Anchoring Bias: Over-relying on the first piece of information encountered. Status Quo Bias: Preferring the current state, resisting beneficial change. Sunk Cost Fallacy: Continuing due to past investments, ignoring current value. Groupthink: Conforming to group opinions, limiting diverse perspectives. Availability Bias: Relying on recent or emotionally charged information. Hindsight Bias: Believing events were predictable after they occur. Recency Bias: Giving more weight to recent events in decision-making. Cognitive Dissonance: Avoiding contradictory information to reduce discomfort

Play the devil's advocate. Make a conscious effort to confront the confirmation bias by challenging your own narrative. The devil's advocate is here to argue the opposite side by asking the hard questions. It will help you tackle the confirmation bias.

This bias closes a lot of our coachees' minds, it prevents them from opening up to new perspectives. 2 tools to open their minds to diminish the effect: 1.- Powerful open questions such as "what if that were not reality but how you see it?do you think X will see that situation the same way you do?why is your view more accurate than his?" 2.- Take the example of others who have solved that in a different way. "Do you know anyone who has been in similar situations but have acted differently-why?" This bias preceded by the anchor bias, can be deadly. I.e. when someone starts from "I think my partner doesn't love me anymore" (anchor) and then goes on to look for evidence of this in the most mini or gesture or word out of context (confirmation).

In my coaching practice, I frequently utilize reframing to assist clients in altering their perceptions and viewing situations from new, more positive angles. Richard Bandler's profound insight, "It's never too late to have a happy childhood," beautifully underscores the power of reframing – changing one's perspective to foster a more optimistic outlook. I guide my clients to see their challenges as opportunities and setbacks as valuable learning experiences. This approach not only broadens their view but also empowers them to make more balanced and positive decisions.

The way information is presented can significantly influence decision-making how we see things shapes how we act, and by reframing our outlook, we can identify more opportunities for growth- it's all about perspective. They say "what you see is what you become" and in many situations two things can be true at the same time. When you consider information its important to decide which "truth" to focus on. We explore alternative ways of looking at the same information and carefully evaluate the pros and cons of each option. In my role as a perspective advisor, I help my clients uncover hidden biases, make more rational choices, and ultimately, create a path to a favorable outcome in any situation.

Framing is a superpower. To combat someone's framing, you need your own mental models for them to use. You, as a coach, must be a student of mental models and framing, or else you will never help your clients see the other possibilities. By the way, this means you can't fall victim to only seeing the world through your frames! You need to understand what others may see as well.

Addressing the framing effect is crucial in decision-making. By encouraging your coachees to question and reconsider their perspectives, you empower them to make more rational and informed choices. Exploring alternative frames broadens their understanding of a situation, promoting better decision outcomes.

You weren't hired as a coach to maintain the status quo. That's what you tell the client: "You didn't pay me to get you the same results you already have." This forces the conversation of what they really want to change.

By encouraging coachees to candidly evaluate the drawbacks of sticking to the familiar path and the potential rewards of embracing change, you can seed the consciousness for the need to venture beyond the comfort zone. This process allows coachees to realize the impact of their choices and serves as a catalyst for breaking free from the inertia of the status quo. Additionally, a vivid and inspiring vision creates an emotional connection and ignites the passion necessary to drive change. By collaboratively formulating tangible steps and milestones, coachees can break free from the comfort zone of the status quo and commence their journey towards progress, armed with newfound clarity and purpose.

As a coach, I often encounter status quo bias, where there's a preference to maintain current conditions, often stemming from a leader's fear of change or how their team will react. This bias can result in resistance to change and missed opportunities. I help coachees by guiding them to weigh the costs and benefits of change versus staying the same. We identify barriers and enablers of change and work together to craft a compelling vision and action plan for desired outcomes. Addressing the underlying fear and providing a clear, strategic path forward are key steps in overcoming this bias.

Addressing status quo bias involves a strategic approach. Guiding coachees to weigh the pros and cons, recognize obstacles, and craft a compelling vision enhances their readiness for change, fostering a proactive stance and unlocking potential opportunities.

Leaders often fall prey to overconfidence in their strategic thinking, assuming their plans are foolproof. Anchoring bias can further impede effective strategy by tethering leaders to initial information, hindering adaptability. Overcoming the status quo bias is also crucial, as it encourages a willingness to challenge norms and adapt strategies in response to changing circumstances.

It is a very common bias in coachees with extremist visions of life "you are either with me or against me", with no gray scale. A suitable tool is to work on beliefs (convictions). In order to express it and obtain concrete actions, I usually like to concretize it in the "5 CONVICTIONS SCALES”: conjectures, opinions, truths with nuances, truths and indisputable truths. The coachee's convictions should not be eliminated, but nuanced. If we manage to turn what he sees as "indisputable truth" into "truth with nuances", we will achieve a space of discovery that will allow us to open a dialogue. Anchor bias followed by confirmation bias are particularly dangerous when they go together. The coachee insists on looking for proof of a “truth”.

As a coach, I often address the challenge of anchoring bias, which can skew decision-making. This bias places undue weight on initial information, affecting judgments and negotiations. My role involves guiding coachees to gather diverse information, compare various sources and scenarios, and discern between relevant and misleading data. This approach helps mitigate the influence of initial anchors, leading to more accurate and realistic decision-making.

Recognizing and reducing availability bias requires self-awareness and intentional actions. I like to use a methodical approach that starts with acknowledging the possibility of such a bias. 1. Acknowledge the bias 2. Identify the sources of information that led to the belief, how recent, how frequent, how reliable, whether it’s anecdotal or not, broader context 3. Identify and approach other sources – looking beyond the readily or easily available data/information, seeking other perspectives, more data, statistics 4. Ask critical questions – about the data, statistics, broader context Once we open up to the possibility that there is more to the issue and we are operating under availability bias, we can use decision-making frameworks.

Ask. Follow-up. Questions. The best one is, "And what is another way we could solve that issue?" Now, you don't need to be a contrarian, either. Don't forget that the first idea could be the best one. Some coaches get obsessed with weird solutions when Occam's Razor should apply.

It's important for coaches to stress to their clients that the past is exactly that...in the past. However, standing on new ground in the present moment allows the client to reflect on the challenges and focus on the new opportunities through learning and improvement. It's more important to focus on what was learned as a reflection instead blaming oneself from not knowing. Holding on to regret and blame simply blocks the client from seeing the path forward. Coaches can be the stimulus to help the client remove the roadblocks of regret, blame, shame, etc.

It is crucial to remember that biases can affect anyone, regardless of their level of expertise or experience. Although the list of biases can serve as a helpful reminder, the most effective way to combat biases is to work in a diverse team where everyone can question assumptions and bring attention to any blind spots caused by ingrained biases.

The overconfidence bias and the tendency for one to overestimate their own abilities, knowledge, or judgment. To address it, encourage a culture of humility and open-mindedness: ✅ Implement mechanisms for regular feedback and reflection, fostering an environment where individuals can critically evaluate their decisions. ✅ Introduce diverse perspectives and consider alternative viewpoints, ensuring a more balanced and realistic assessment of situations. Additionally, incorporating data-driven decision-making processes helps ground judgments in objective information rather than subjective confidence.

I was coaching an executive who led a strategic planning initiative for his company. He strongly believed in a particular market trend and sought information that confirmed his perspective, dismissing data that contradicted it. Through coaching, I introduced tools/exercises that allowed him to explore alternative scenarios and challenge his assumptions. This process helped him recognize the confirmation bias at play and prompted him to invite team members to critique and challenge the proposed strategy. He adjusted the strategic plan to incorporate diverse perspectives, mitigating the risk of overlooking potential challenges, thereby benefiting him and his organization to adopt a more balanced and informed approach.

The most common bias is believing you need something new. Something from outside yourself. 90% of the time, you’re hiding from a truth you already know. It may be passive, it may be active, but it’s hiding either way. And it’s time to stop. Name it out loud. Get the help you want. But stop thinking you don’t have what it takes. You have one precious life. Stop wasting it and not chasing that one thing that could change everything.

Como coach empresarial, recomiendo a los CEOs cultivar una mentalidad abierta a nuevas ideas y perspectivas. Esta mentalidad no solo implica estar dispuestos a considerar diferentes enfoques estratégicos, sino también a potenciar las habilidades y el potencial de su equipo. Al fomentar un ambiente donde se valore la diversidad de pensamiento y se promueva la colaboración, los CEOs pueden aprovechar al máximo las capacidades de su equipo, impulsando la innovación y la creatividad en la empresa. Esto no solo fortalece la estrategia empresarial, sino que también crea un entorno de trabajo más dinámico y satisfactorio para todos los miembros del equipo.