In the movie “My Cousin Vinny” there’s a memorable scene showing a lawyer who gets caught in his own flawed assumptions. He’s a spiteful district attorney in an Alabama murder case who tries to discredit a glamourous, if rather unorthodox, automotive expert witness named Mona Lisa Vito. With her tight dress, big hair, and heavy makeup, she simply doesn’t fit his mental model of what an auto expert should look like.
He makes a rather smug attempt to trip her up with a “gotcha” question and it backfires. Instead, she reveals her encyclopedic knowledge of cars, learned from growing up in her father’s Brooklyn auto repair shop. His strongly held assumptions cost him dearly and so do ours.
The double-edged sword of expertise is that we get stuck in the guardrails of our own knowledge and often narrow our view to a singular way of seeing the world. This makes people entrenched, inflexible, and closed off to new ideas. It stymies inclusion because it divides people from others who don’t think like they do. It can even be dangerous. The more expert we are, the more we become entrenched in our own beliefs when faced with facts that contradict them. In fact, one sobering hospital study revealed that 70% of psychiatrists actively worked to confirm a wrong diagnosis they made, rather than consider a new one.
Removing our individual and organizational blinders is one of the most powerful moves we can make to improve workplace culture and performance. When we challenge our assumptions, suspend our “known truths” long enough to be open to the beliefs of others, and expand our mental models – that’s when growth, learning, and innovation happen. And when we open our minds to the possibilities of another person’s way of thinking, that’s what paves the way for true collaboration and teamwork.
“There were a number of people who attended who surprised me with how astute they were. That was an eye opener. You know, there was something in that for me—I’ve been too quick to judge other people.”
—Reflection Point Participant
"You feel like you’ve stretched beyond your boundaries. Once your mind opens and your boundaries expand to accept something new, you never shrink back to where you were before.”
One of the most entrenched and troublesome human traits is our tendency to seek out information that confirms what we already know or supports the decision we already want to make. Whether you call this confirmation bias or my-side bias it can lead to bad decision-making, stymied innovation, irrational management, and poor collaboration. Since this bias evolved to protect us back in the days when veering from a safe routine meant fairly certain death, it is deeply embedded and difficult to avoid. That’s why we must actively and constantly work against it. Seek out dissenting points of view, actively build diverse social and workplace networks to connect with people different than you, cultivate a beginner’s mind, and escape your comfortable echo chamber with the “one more habit.”
Reflection Point’s approach works because it’s grounded in science and the latest research on organizational learning.
Confirmation Bias is a Powerful Driver of Human Behavior.
Two famous foundational studies on confirmation bias were conducted at Stanford University in the 1970s. They used very different topics to test the power of assumptions – suicide notes and firefighters. In both studies participants were given barely enough information to form an impression and then in the second stage of the project, researchers revealed that the whole set-up was fake and then asked further questions. Even after the evidence for their beliefs was totally refuted, people failed to change their minds, and clung to their flawed assumptions.
The Human Brain is Hardwired to Seek Out Information that Confirms What We Already Know and Believe.
Sara Gorman and Jack Gorman, in their evidence-rich book published by the Oxford University Press, suggests that people experience genuine pleasure—a rush of dopamine—when processing information that supports their beliefs. This is why it feels good to ‘stick to our guns.’ Even if the facts show us that we are wrong we prefer to carry on blindly interpreting the world and new inputs in ways that fit what we already know.
Experts are More Dangerous than Amateurs Because Their Mental Models Are the Most Entrenched.
Research by Erik Dane in the Academy of Management journal looked at the impact of cognitive entrenchment and found that the more someone knows – the more expert they become – the more inflexible and dogmatic they become. They can no longer hear other perspectives and they become less adaptable, less flexible, worse at problem solving and less creative.
The initial silence spoke volumes. As fifty people from a global investment firm gathered for a Reflection Point session, no one said a word. The assignment was to discuss Aimee Bender’s workplace fairytale, “The Color Master.” Growing in a new role, an apprentice to an expert Color Master meets a difficult set of orders from an important customer. The story elegantly explores client service, mentorship, and the struggle to achieve excellence in the face of emotional and ethical challenges.
The Color Master’s fanciful story seemed a world away from the investment professionals’ practical work. What could they possibly learn from a team of artistic dressmakers who bring the colors of nature to life in high-priced garments?
“I know you aren’t dressmakers in a fanciful shop, but you do have demanding clients who expect the sun, the moon and the stars,” Ann Kowal Smith, the Executive Director of Reflection Point, told the group. “I know that learning the intricacies of color is not in your job description, but I also know that, like the main character in this story, most of you have had times in your lives when you had to step up when you didn’t feel ready and have also coached others in the same boat. I know that asset management is not an inherently emotional business, like color and artistry are. But how does emotion play into your work and where should it? The Color Master’s shop is not your workplace, but it is a metaphor for every workplace that has ever employed a human being,”
And with that, the session broke into small groups and the flood gates opened. Dots connected. Insights flowed. Colleagues—some who had never met before—connected on a whole new level.
“I was in awe of the brilliance of my colleagues and incredibly humbled by the experience. The ability to connect the literature to the workplace was surprising and resonated deeply,” said Susan (names have been changed to protect the anonymity of participants).
At one point the Color Master orders her apprentice to “put anger in the dress.” Jarred by this strange request, the young apprentice tries and fails. “Have any of you ever been asked to put emotion in your work or to be less emotional?” asked Kowal Smith.
Every woman in the room nodded. “It’s really telling that every woman here has been told to be less emotional. Yet no one ever suggested to anyone here, male or female, that they should dial up their emotional sensitivity to be better leaders, even though research shows that this kind of leadership makes for more intelligent teams,” said Luisa.
The group also talked about how the Color Master is the most talented in the kingdom but gets zero recognition. Invisibility–something we don’t often think about at work. But colleagues are often invisible to each other in a global firm. Faces are replaced by functions. Relationships are often transactional at best.
This session was designed to be an antidote to invisibility. It brought together people from all levels, different geographies, and diverse functions – with the goal of sparking connection, and deepening relationships.
“Participating in this session—which required consideration of others, courage to speak up, tolerance of differing perspectives—allowed for greater connectivity, sharing, bravery, confession and transparency than nearly any other event in which I’ve engaged,” said Cheryl.
Reflection Point uses hundreds of different stories, so we can choose the ones that unearth the right themes and discussions for your organization. Here are three examples:
Night Women By Edwidge Danticat
A compelling first-person story about a night in the life of a prostitute in Haiti. She lives in a one room house with her small child, who she puts to sleep in a space separated by a lace curtain so she can work at night. As the woman sacrifices everything for her son, the reader confronts themes of social judgement, assumptions, and the power of finding hope amid darkness.
The Death of Margaret Roe By Nat Newman
The Death of Margaret Roe unearths long-buried secrets that threaten to change the life of a man named Havilah Brown. A man of few words often feared and misunderstood, his very existence is threatened by what his sister’s death unearths, exploring themes of prejudice, fear, and the dire toll of judgement.
Puppy By George Saunders
Two mothers from very different backgrounds encounter each other as one attempts to purchase a puppy from the other. The story examines how we interact with those who are very different from us, the assumptions we make about others, and the difference between our own perception of ourselves and others’ perception of us – challenging readers to confront and reevaluate the deep-seated reasons we judge other people.
When we bring colleagues together to share perspectives and reflect on powerful stories like these, we start conversations we wouldn’t otherwise have. We melt hierarchies and level the playing field. We kickstart connection, relationships, and, ultimately, collective intelligence.
Albert Einstein was one of the smartest and most productive scientists of all time. But he was also stubborn, refusing to believe scientific evidence that didn’t jive with his beliefs. He refuted black holes even though his own work led to their discovery. He refused to accept the Big Bang theory because it contradicted his certainty that the universe is static. And he scoffed at gravitational waves, even though the theories emerged from a paper he wrote himself.
And he’s not alone in being blinded by his own assumptions. Most of us spend our life’s work becoming experts at something. And that’s good, but also dangerous. The more expert we are, the more we become entrenched in our own mental models when faced with facts that contradict them. One sobering study revealed that 70% of psychiatrists actively worked to confirm a wrong diagnosis rather than consider a new one.
And the smarter we are, the more at risk we are for this confirmation bias. In the fight for new ideas, you are your own worst enemy, losing the flexibility to entertain breakthrough thinking. These days, we need that mental flexibility more than ever. Increased polarization, social upheaval, rapid technological change and curve balls in the way we work throw a major wrench into our collective ability to make sense of the world. Yesterday’s experiences don’t give us adequate clues to meet today’s challenges.
Your best weapon is an open mind—a willingness to challenge your assumptions and be open to different ways of seeing and understanding the world. As Yoda famously reminds us, it means unlearning what you already know to make space for something new. Here are three ways to do that and future proof your brain to grow and thrive.
1. Adopt a beginner’s mind. The great Zen teacher Suzuki Roshi explained “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few.” When we first set out to learn something truly new, our minds are fresh and curious, unsullied by preconceived ideas and contrary opinions. But it’s hard to retain the beginner’s mind. There’s a reason for the proverb “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.” When we know something—even just a little something—we tend to believe we know more than we really do. A flawed belief that we are experts precludes us from staying open to possibilities.
There’s a delicious example of this. In 2018, a doctoral student at Harvard was studying the connection between dairy and chronic disease. Much to his surprise (and the dismay of his advisors), he found overwhelming evidence that eating half a cup of ice cream every day was associated with a lower risk of heart problems in diabetics. On top of that, he discovered that he wasn’t the first to identify this connection. Twenty years earlier, scientists first observed the outsized benefit of ice cream. But ice cream as disease prevention plainly doesn’t fit the dogma of healthy eating. So scores of researchers explained it away, dismissing it rather than investigating further.
To prevent these blind spots in your work, actively adopt a beginner’s mind. When you don’t know what’s impossible, you are unstoppable. Unfettered by your own biases, you can identify and explore connections others may not see and surface new explanations for vexing problems. And while the challenges you face may not be solved with a cup of rocky road, the path forward is smoother when you stay curious and fight the temptation to discount answers that surprise you.
2. Surround yourself with people who don’t think like you. The echo chamber isn’t only on the internet—it’s alive and well in the real world. We pick the channels we watch and listen to, the news we read, and the social media accounts we follow—much of it aligning with what we already believe. Most of us live near people who look and think like us. As a result we’re losing our ability to disagree respectfully and productively.
Our brains are very happy on auto-pilot, interpreting the world and new inputs in ways that fit what we already know. In fact, this bias is so powerful that research shows we experience a rush of dopamine—pure pleasure—when we learn something that supports our beliefs. With torrents of information flowing past us at breakneck speed, it’s easier to return to the sources we trust instead of seeking out diverse perspectives. But relying consistently on a narrow set of inputs erodes our critical thinking skills, damaging our ability to discern truth from bunk. As a result, we become highly susceptible to misinformation.
“To escape the echo chamber, push yourself into new spaces and look for alternative perspectives.”
Consider adopting this new habit. When faced with a decision, slow down. Ask yourself one more question, probing just a little deeper on the issue you’re trying to resolve. Consider one more thought: seek out an additional piece of information that doesn’t confirm what you’ve already concluded. And listen to one more voice, specifically engaging someone who doesn’t always agree with you.” The “one more” habit ensures that you look beyond the world you know to new and different possibilities.
3. Extend your social connections, especially at work. Keeping yourself open to new ideas at work is hard. Often you are head down, working alone, racing to get things done. It’s tough to find the time (and, in hybrid environments, the space) to make new friends. But the cost of disconnection is high. In my work, I’ve seen people learn the hard way that working alone does not always yield the best results.
In a large research university, we gathered a diverse group of staff and faculty for facilitated discussions of short stories. A seasoned management professor was so stunned to hear such a wide array of perspectives on one particular story that at first he wasn’t sure he’d read the same one. In the face of so many rich insights from his peers, including many ideas he hadn’t thought of, he began to question the reliability of the research he routinely conducted alone. If he missed so many angles in a story, he reasoned, how many does he miss in his work?
Your peers are not only a rich source of new ideas, they can help you guard against the potential myopia of working alone. Our need for belonging creates a powerful urge to reconsider opinions in the face of new information provided in social contexts. Social relationships help us capitalize on intersections. The spaces between you and your peers hold vast possibilities—rich combinations of ideas, perspectives, experiences, and expertise—that no one can conceive alone.
If your organization doesn’t create opportunities for you to get to know a wide array of people, take it upon yourself. Ask a colleague to lunch or set up a video call to shoot the breeze with someone new. Compare notes on a movie, a book, or the news. Invite a broader set of colleagues to your next problem-solving conversation. In the new world of hybrid work, this takes extra effort. But the payoff is real: the connections you make will help you be more collaborative, inclusive and productive.
Einstein’s mentor and teacher, German physicist Max Planck, once said, “Science advances one funeral at a time.” But especially in today’s fast-moving world, we can’t afford to wait for one generation to die to advance new ideas.
To avoid being blinded by your own beliefs, honor your expertise but don’t rest in it. Treat it as a foundation to constantly learn more. A beginner’s mind, diverse influences and a broader social network will help you think bigger thoughts, grow your insights and shape the future of your work—one new insight at a time.
First published on Forbes.com.
