As a business owner, one of the most common challenges you face is the innate human tendency known as negativity bias. This hardwired inclination to prioritize negative experiences over positive ones has evolved to help us survive, but it can often lead us astray in the business world.
So, what’s the real issue with negativity bias in the workplace? Let’s delve into two influential aspects that might impact your business decisions.
Weighing Negatives Over Positives
Firstly, we tend to give more weight to negative events over positive ones. Consider the customer feedback examples: “Service was a bit slower than expected” versus “Service was a bit faster than I expected.” While both comments are equally intense on their respective scales, our bias makes us fixate more on the negative feedback.
Research suggests that to create a balance, we need a ratio of about 5:1 regarding positive versus negative impacts. Think about your response and align it in this context.
The Unawareness Factor
Another tricky element is that this bias operates under the radar, often unnoticed. Despite our categorizations, negativity bias functions automatically, influencing our behaviour and decision-making unbeknownst to us.
Some nuances exist around the negativity bias, yet this “propensity to attend to, learn from, and use negative information far more than positive information” can result in poor decisions. Consider these scenarios:
- A flurry of negative customer reviews spurs unnecessary changes to a user interface, website, product, or process.
- When presented with a new idea, it’s dismissed due to immediate focus on potential negative outcomes, ignoring possible opportunities.
In the first scenario, changes can unnecessarily shift focus or even damage performance, while the second scenario stifles innovation due to overemphasis on risks.
Navigating Negativity Bias: A Practical Approach
To avoid these pitfalls, try this strategy:
- Recognize the existence of negativity bias.
- Utilize data to contextualize events and information.
- Verify the facts and make informed decisions.
Let’s apply this to the first scenario:
– Acknowledge the natural inclination to perceive negative reviews as more important or truthful than positive ones.
– Gather all customer reviews from the past few months and calculate the positive and negative feedback ratio.
– The numbers don’t justify changes if 5 out of 200 reviews were negative. But if 195 out of 200 reviews were negative, adjustments are warranted!
You can make more balanced, data-driven decisions that bolster your business’s success by consciously addressing negativity bias.
