BMT: Optimism Bias, what you need to know and how you can fight it

Optimism-bias

by BMT

In recent years, bias in the workplace, both subconscious and overt, has come under intense scrutiny. Both industry and government have dedicated significant amounts of time and resource to approaching and confronting these biases. It is highly likely that you are already aware of some of the more apparent biases, such as racial, cultural and ageist bias, and that your workplace has taken steps to educate, inform and help team members to address and hopefully overcome these.

However, in this series, I will be looking at some of the lesser-known workplace subconscious biases: what they are; how they affect you and your colleagues, and what you can do to tackle them. In this first article, I will examine the negatives and – perhaps surprisingly – the positives of a bias that affects everyone nearly every day: optimism bias.

Here at BMT, we work hard to counter optimism bias, to ensure that we can grow and develop at every opportunity. Just some of our methods to stay ahead of the game in this field include: regularly reviewing the latest social psychological works and theories; learning from projects and programmes, and inviting SME guest speakers to increase our awareness of the multiple nuances within the field of biases.

Read the full insight on the BMT website