The illusion of objectivity: how to recognize and overcome expert bias
4 ways to begin incorporating a beginner’s mindset into your innovation ventures
I think it is crucial for innovators to occasionally set aside their industry smarts and to ‘think like beginners’. Human-centered thinking prioritizes this notion, teaching us to frame solutions around the end-user (who in this context is our ‘expert’) and to embrace a learning mindset in order to guide unique, delightful, and effectively valuable ideas.
Here are a few ways to begin incorporating a beginner’s mindset into your innovation ventures:
🎲 Invite new eyes to have a look on what you are doing. It is like either looking with the “beginner eye” into what you do and give you feedback or coming with expertise but from another industry and connecting dots that you do not even see can be connected. Many ways of bringing this into a value, of course. Seeking out diverse perspectives is here crucial!
🎲 It is not only about the experts voice! There are moments when if you listen to other team members, other colleagues from your organization, other teams, they bring in perspectives that you with your expert eyes cannot see in that very moment. For this to happen you might want to start listening to the others in the real meaning - really be interested in what they think and put questions to find out more. If all voices are heard in a team for example, you might be surprised on how many good things come out of this.
🎲 Play more! Greatest ideas are generated when everyone involved in innovation feels uninhibited and supported. discourage expert bias by leveling the professional playing field, reminding each team member that they are collaborating towards common goals while also igniting dynamic,joy-filled and out-of-the-box ideas.
🎲 Practice self-awareness: It's important to be aware of your own biases and the ways in which they may influence your thinking. Regularly practicing self-reflection and seeking feedback from others can help you to identify and manage your biases.
There are for sure many ways to break down the expert bias - let me know in the comments which ones do you use?
One-phrase summary:
Too often, experts are mired in their own theories, and reluctant to face conflicting theories, directly or indirectly. It’s hard for all of us to overcome our biases and tackle challengers head-on. This is just as true for experts as for the rest of us.