How to overcome confirmation bias

Have you noticed how we tend to listen only to information that confirms our preconceptions and unconsciously look for proof that our worldview is “the right one”?

You can see this for yourself in your Google search, social media feed, and LinkedIn connections. We tend to listen and get closer to people and opinions we agree with. Very rarely do we open up to a different voice that goes against what we already believe in. The same goes for your audience. If they don’t already have sustainability as a core belief (or worse, if they think it is a fad) they will not have the opportunity to hear about it as much as they hear about finance, profit, lifestyle, fashion, sport or whatever else they care about.

Of course, once these two worlds collide in a meeting, they’ll be just as shocked as you about your views. And you’ll be labelled as an opponent instead of a collaborator or someone they'd want to listen to.

So, what to do?

You need to become curious about others, getting underneath the skin of the stereotypes, your own and your audience’s confirmation bias:

  • Give yourself time to self-reflect and keep track of your conversations; 
  • Be open to listening attentively to people from different backgrounds and beliefs;
  • Gather information from different sources; 
  • Ask questions and look for the root causes of the issues.

All of these will help cast light upon the areas where we can all have a bias.

 This article was originally written for the Green Gorilla weekly newsletter. If you liked it, subscribe to receive more articles like this and learn how to communicate sustainability better, how to be more productive without selling your soul to the work devil, and how to make an impact in the world. Here is the link: https://newsletter.thegreengorilla.co.uk/

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