MODERN LEADERSHIP confirms those preconceptions and validates our beliefs . If we find anything that appears to contradict our “ truth ,” we perform mental acrobatics to explain how the new information is false or irrelevant .
Sunk cost bias is something all business leaders are all-too familiar with : irrationally persisting with bad decisions , due to irrecoverable investments already made . We cling to our original decisions in an effort to avoid the intense discomfort and vulnerability associated with admitting our plans or decisions did not and are not working ; we fear admitting that there are losses that cannot be recovered . We persist in an effort to prove ourselves right in spite of all the evidence .
Both of these biases show the expert ’ s mind in action . The expert ’ s mind appears to be secure in its knowledge , but it is actually deeply insecure . The desperate way it clings to its perceptions and conclusions is evidence of its fear of being wrong . It holds on tightly to its beliefs and “ knowledge ” because in an unstable world , that ’ s what gives it the illusion
of stability .
As a leader how can you avoid these two costly biases and the pitfalls of the expert ’ s mind ? Research shows that mindfulness is the answer .
Mindfulness : The Antidote to Expert ’ s Mind Andrew Hafenbrack and a team of researchers examined the impact of mindfulness meditation on sunk cost bias . Hafenbrack and his team staged three different experiments in which some groups were encouraged to let their minds wander before being asked to make a decision designed to evoke the sunk cost bias . Others were guided through a 15-minute mindfulness meditation session prior to being presented with the same decisions .
After only 15 minutes of meditation , the mindful group was significantly less likely to be influenced by the sunk cost bias .
Our wandering minds , Hafenbrack and his team concluded , lead us to dwell too much on the past and the future , thereby providing fuel for the sunk cost bias paradigm . Focusing more on the present reduces the effects of the bias .
In another study , researchers examined how mindfulness aids our decision-making processes . They discovered that , among other benefits , mindfulness may “ reduce confirmation bias and overconfidence , allow decision makers to better differentiate between relevant and irrelevant information , reduce reliance on stereotypes , help appreciate uncertainty and productively deal with it , and reduce illusory pattern detection … Mindfulness is likely to facilitate resolving trade-offs and help effectively reconcile intuition with analysis , thereby reducing procrastination .” They concluded that “ mindful decision makers are more likely to learn to make better decisions over time because they are more open to feedback and less prone to misinterpret it by making self-serving attributions .”
In short , mindfulness releases the grip of our expert ’ s mind and its accompanying biases in order to operate from the openness and flexibility of beginner ’ s mind .
The Science Behind Beginner ’ s Mind Whereas the expert ’ s mind is a default state , beginner ’ s mind is fostered through mindful meditation . In contrast to the expert ’ s mind , beginner ’ s mind does not position itself as all-knowing . In fact , it uniquely prepares the brain for greater flexibility and learning – in short , for an innovative mindset .
For the past few centuries , the accepted paradigm in the scientific community has been that the brain is essentially fixed , hardwired ,
October 2016 ModernBusiness 51