Removing Bias from Mental Models
To revise a biased mental model, separate observations from assumptions and listen to evidence that challenges your view. Personal feelings can influence a decision, but they should not substitute for assessing the options.
THE IDEA
Removing Bias from Mental Models
A mental model can make some evidence easy to notice and other evidence easy to dismiss. Start by separating what you observed from what you inferred. Ask what would count against your explanation, and consider another plausible account.
For example, you might decline a useful work trip because you dislike the person leading it. Review the opportunity itself: what could you learn, what would the trip require, and how would the working relationship affect it? Dislike may be influencing your judgment, but the relationship could also present a real difficulty. Neither possibility should be assumed away.
Listening matters too. During a disagreement, try to understand the other person’s claim before rejecting it. Ask which evidence supports it and whether it reveals a gap in your own model. You do not have to accept every new idea to take it seriously.
Comparing ideas across disciplines can expose assumptions you had not noticed. Revise your model when the evidence warrants it, and keep track of what remains uncertain.
When to use it
Evaluating a career change or promotion opportunity despite personal conflicts with colleagues.
Resolving a team disagreement by comparing evidence and examining how interpersonal conflict affects its interpretation.
Making a business investment decision by setting aside emotional attachment to a project or person.
Choosing between personal and professional obligations by stating the practical constraints and values involved.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Work Trip with a Difficult Colleague
A person considers a career-related work trip led by a colleague they dislike. They separate the trip’s likely benefits from their feelings about the colleague, while also considering whether the working relationship would make the trip unproductive.
Not Listening to Opposing Views
During disagreements, people often shut down new ideas because they don't want to hear anything that contrasts their own beliefs, missing out on valuable perspectives and learning opportunities.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
Think of a recent decision influenced by strong feelings. Which observations supported your judgment, and which parts were assumptions?
When was the last time you truly listened to an opposing viewpoint without immediately dismissing it? What did you learn?
When has a personal relationship affected a professional decision? Which concerns were relevant to the decision, and which deserved reconsideration?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Thinking in Systems and Mental Models Think Like a Super Thinker (Dawson, Marcus P)