In the realm of human cognition lies an interesting phenomenon – cognitive bias. This blog will dive deeper into what cognitive bias is, types of cognitive bias, impacts on organizations and tools you can use to mitigate the negative effects of cognitive bias.
 
What is Cognitive Bias?
 
The human brain is wired to develop and make use of social categories and schemas. Humans take mental short cuts in response to ambiguity, information overload, memory, or speed. These mental short cuts are a biological and evolutionary tool to help us make quick decisions in the face of challenging circumstances. These mental short cuts help us remember new information, but also may lead us to falsely remember things that never happened to us and to distort or misremember things that did.
 
These mental short cuts are cognitive biases.
 
Cognitive biases have a profound effect on how individuals view the world and how they make decisions within the world they perceive, even if some of those decisions are not in their best interests or the best decisions, in a given situation.
 
System 1 & 2 Thinking
 
In his book Thinking Fast and Slow Daniel Kahneman differentiates between 2 types of thinking – System 1 and System 2.
 
System 1 thinking operates automatically and quickly, with little or no effort and no sense of voluntary control. This is where Cognitive Bias lives.
 
System 2 thinking allocates attention to mental activities that demand effort. This is often associated with subjective experiences of agency, choice, and concentration.
 
When we think of ourselves and our identity, we are likely to identify most with System 2, the conscious, reasoning self that has beliefs, makes choices and decides what to think about and what to do. In reality, we spend a lot of our lives operating in System 1, and System 1 operations help to construct the beliefs and deliberate choices of System 2.
 
Types of Cognitive Bias
 
There are many types of cognitive bias. Here is a sampling of a few that you may have experienced.

Why Does Cognitive Bias Matter for Organizations?

Cognitive Biases have a substantial impact on any organization, influencing decision-making, problem-solving and overall performance. Bias finds its way into all aspects of our lives and identities - bias can be related to age, race, ethnicity, gender, employment, selection and promotion, health care, religion, disability, nationality, socioeconomic status, education etc. Understanding these biases is crucial for creating an environment that fosters critical thinking, psychological safety, and inclusivity.
 
Key impacts of cognitive bias on organizations include:

1. Decision-making errors: Cognitive biases can lead decision-makers to make flawed judgments, leading to poor choices in strategy, resource allocation, and hiring. Biases like confirmation bias, where individuals seek out information that confirms their pre-existing beliefs, can hinder objectivity and lead to overlooking valuable perspectives.
2. Inefficient problem-solving: Biases such as anchoring bias, where individuals rely heavily on the first piece of information encountered, can constrain creative problem-solving. Teams may get fixated on initial ideas or solutions without exploring other potentially more effective alternatives.
3. Groupthink: Cognitive biases can foster a culture of groupthink, where individuals prioritize conformity over constructive dissent. This can stifle innovation and hinder open discussions, as people may fear challenging the consensus.
4. Talent management challenges: Biases like the halo effect can influence performance evaluations, promotions, and opportunities for advancement. This may lead to overlooking talented individuals or promoting employees based on factors other than merit.
5. Communication breakdown: Cognitive biases can hinder effective communication within teams and across departments. Misunderstandings and misinterpretations may arise due to biases such as the availability heuristic, where recent or easily recalled information is given more weight than it deserves.
6. Risk assessment and management: Cognitive biases like the optimism bias can lead organizations to underestimate risks and overestimate potential benefits. This may result in inadequate risk assessment and preparation for potential crises.
7. Organizational culture: Biases can seep into the fabric of an organization’s culture, affecting its values, norms, and decision-making processes. Recognizing and addressing biases is essential for fostering a culture of inclusivity, diversity, and fairness.
8. Customer relations: biases can impact how organizations interact with their customers. For example, stereotyping customers based on demographics can lead to inappropriate marketing strategies or inadequate customer support.

 
Confronting Cognitive Biases – Strategies for You and Your Team
 
Cognitive biases are not permanent, they are malleable and can be changed by devoting intention, attention, and time to developing new associations. To help mitigate the impact of cognitive bias, managers and organizations can implement strategies such as:
 
Self-Reflection: By increasing self-awareness of your own bias, you can begin to make better decisions and  mitigate the impact of bias. Try this workbook to support you in reflecting on your own bias.
 
Support Your Team in Self-Reflecting: Help your team learn more about and become aware of their bias. You can use this workbook as a tool to facilitate this type of learning and as a way to connect your team to one another.
 
Increase Situational Awareness: Become aware of situations that magnify stereotyping and bias. Time pressures, fatigue, stress and information overload all impact our ability to move past bias and utilize our system 2 thinking. Work with a coach (link) to reflect on past experiences and develop skills for the future.
 
Diversify: While bias may prevent us from hiring a diverse team, diversity can also help us to prevent bias from impacting our business and teams. By consciously working to diversify your team and those at the table making decisions, we can begin to distill out bias.
 
Try New Strategies: Try out new strategies for making decisions. Try consulting with trusted people with different backgrounds or delegating to others to remove your own bias.
 
Set Aside More Time: Where possible, take time to make decisions and allow yourself and those on your team to utilize system 2 thinking. By creating space between stimulus and response, you give yourself the time to reflect on the situation more fully.
 
 
Cognitive biases have a profound effect on how individuals view the world and how they make decisions within the world they perceive. For organizations, this can have far-reaching effects. Luckily, there are things that leaders and organizations can do to reduce bias.
 
 
 
 
References:
 
Biases - The Decision Lab. (n.d.). The Decision Lab. https://thedecisionlab.com/biases
 
Kahneman, D. (2013, April 2). Thinking, Fast and Slow.
 
Stangor, C. and Walinga, J. (2014). Introduction to Psychology – 1st Canadian Edition. Victoria, B.C.: BCcampus. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontopsychology/

The middle manager position is one of the most important and most challenging positions within an organization. Research shows that the most successful companies have effective middle managers over the long term. However, despite their vital impact on organizational performance, they are often neglected and subjected to complex demands, impacting their ability to be successful.

​In this blog, we discuss the dilemma that middle managers face as they must answer to both requests from above in the hierarchy as well as requests from below. We finish with a discussion on how upper management, board members and small business owners can support their middle managers to be successful.
 
What are Middle Managers?
 
Middle managers act as a bridge between upper management and frontline employees. They oversee the work of lower-level managers, coordinate activities, communicate objectives and ensure operational efficiency. They oversee the facilitation of any changes needed in an organization and creating an effective working environment. In for-profit organizations individuals may have job titles such as general manager, regional manager, department or functional manager. In non-profits, we most often see this reflected in the executive director position.
 
The Dilemma that Middle Managers Face
 
Middle managers are often caught between inconsistent demands from superiors and subordinates, leading to increased role conflict. They occupy multiple roles at once, including leader and direct report. In many cases, the norms and expectations associated with being a leader, are incompatible with the norms and expectations associated with being a direct report.
 
Middle managers must constantly adapt to changing power dynamics in the different roles that they occupy. When interacting with superiors, they naturally adopt a more deferential, low-power behaviour style. Meanwhile, when interacting with direct reports, we see middle managers adopt a more assertive, high-power behavioural style. Failure to conform to these role-based expectations can lead to social conflicts and confusion among managers and their teams.
 
This dilemma is the result of inadequate information, failure of leaders to make performance expectations of middle managers clear, and conflicting pressures regarding behaviour from direct reports and supervisors.
 
These dynamics lead to impacts on both the individual middle manager as well as the overall organization.
 
Individual Impacts
Emotional

• Feelings of stress and anxiety
• Research has shown that those in mid-level positions have higher rates of depression and anxiety than employees who occupy positions nearer either end of the hierarchy

Physical

• High stress levels are risk factors for lots of health concerns, including heart disease

Mental

• Can disrupt cognitive performance and the ability to focus on a task without getting distracted

 
Organizational Impacts
Reduced effectiveness of middle managers and their teams
High turnover rates
 
How You Can Help
 
Upper management, board members and owners have an important role in helping middle managers navigate these difficult dynamics. Several ways to help include:
 
1. Flatten your organizational hierarchy
 
By embracing a more egalitarian organizational structure and culture, organizations can help their middle managers by reducing the behavioural discrepancies between high and low power roles.
 
2. Avoid micromanaging
 
Micromanaging of middle managers creates more instances of unnecessary role switching. Instead, provide strategic input and then allow them the freedom to implement those strategies.
 
3. Get clear on expectations
 
Be clear with your middle managers on what your expectations are in terms of their leadership, decision making and goals. 
 
4. Listen to your middle managers
 
Check in regularly and encourage them to share about their experience of role conflict. You may be surprised by their insight and perspective on their role as well as the overall organization. Try this check-in guide.
 
5. Empower your middle managers
 
Train your managers on the skills they need to effectively navigate relationships with supervisors and direct reports, including conflict management and communication skills. Contact us for training opportunities here.
 
 
Resources
 
Rahim, M. A. (2015). Managing Conflict in Organizations. Greenwood. https://doi.org/10.1604/9780313000485
 
Why Being a Middle Manager Is So Exhausting. (2017, March 22). Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2017/03/why-being-a-middle-manager-is-so-exhausting