Social Biases
Authority bias
Giving extra weight to authority figures.
Example: A suggestion sounds correct mainly because a senior leader said it.
Ask: Is the authority relevant to this claim?
Go DeeperSituation Guide
Thinking Traps at Work
Biases that affect meetings, hiring, leadership, feedback, workplace decisions, and team judgment.
Moral, Political, and Workplace Biases
Authority bias
Overweighting the view of a senior person.
Example: A suggestion sounds correct mainly because a senior leader said it.
Ask: Is rank substituting for evidence?
Go DeeperDecision-Making Biases
Planning fallacy
Underestimating how long work will take.
Example: A weekend closet project quietly becomes a three-week project.
Ask: How long did similar work actually take before?
Go DeeperMoral, Political, and Workplace Biases
Recency bias in performance reviews
Overweighting recent work in long-term evaluation.
Example: A recent mistake dominates an annual review.
Ask: What happened across the full review period?
Go DeeperMoral, Political, and Workplace Biases
Confirmation bias in hiring
Looking for evidence that confirms an early impression of a candidate.
Example: An interviewer asks questions that support their first impression.
Ask: What evidence contradicts my first impression?
Go DeeperMoral, Political, and Workplace Biases
Affinity bias
Favoring people you feel comfortable with.
Example: An interviewer favors a candidate who went to the same school.
Ask: Am I evaluating fit or familiarity?
Go DeeperDecision-Making Biases
Status quo bias
Preferring things to stay as they are.
Example: An employee sticks with an old tool because changing workflows feels annoying.
Ask: Would I choose this if it were not already the default?
Go DeeperMoral, Political, and Workplace Biases
Status quo bias
Preferring existing arrangements.
Example: An employee sticks with an old tool because changing workflows feels annoying.
Ask: Would we design it this way from scratch?
Go DeeperSocial Biases
Groupthink
Suppressing doubts to preserve group harmony.
Example: A team stays quiet about risks because the room feels united.
Ask: What dissent has not been invited?
Go DeeperMoral, Political, and Workplace Biases
Contrast bias in evaluation
Rating someone relative to the previous person instead of the standard.
Example: An average presentation looks weak after an excellent one.
Ask: Am I using the rubric or the comparison?
Go DeeperMemory Biases
Availability cascade
A repeated claim starts to feel true because many people repeat it.
Example: A rumor about layoffs feels true after enough coworkers repeat it.
Ask: Can I trace this back to a solid original source?
Go DeeperMemory Biases
Recency bias
Overweighting the most recent event or information.
Example: A great final interview makes a hiring manager forget earlier concerns.
Ask: Am I judging the whole pattern or only the latest moment?
Go DeeperMemory Biases
Self-serving memory bias
Remembering events in ways that favor your role or intentions.
Example: Two teammates each remember doing most of the work on the same project.
Ask: How would another person fairly describe this?
Go DeeperMemory Biases
Egocentric memory bias
Remembering your role in shared events as larger than it was.
Example: Everyone in a group project remembers their own tasks most clearly.
Ask: What did others contribute that I may not have seen?
Go DeeperMemory Biases
Leveling and sharpening
Dropping some details while exaggerating others in retelling.
Example: A messy vacation story becomes simpler and more dramatic each time it is told.
Ask: What has been simplified out of the story?
Go DeeperMemory Biases
Primacy effect
Letting early information shape later judgment.
Example: A rough first impression colors every later interaction with a new coworker.
Ask: What if I learned the facts in a different order?
Go DeeperMemory Biases
Bizarreness effect
Unusual information becomes especially memorable.
Example: A strange classroom example sticks while the main lesson fades.
Ask: Did the strange detail distract from the main point?
Go DeeperMemory Biases
Spacing effect
Learning lasts longer when practice is spread over time.
Example: A person remembers vocabulary better by reviewing ten minutes a day for a week.
Ask: Have I scheduled spaced review instead of cramming?
Go DeeperQuick FAQ
What are thinking traps at work?
Biases that affect meetings, hiring, leadership, feedback, workplace decisions, and team judgment.
How do I spot one quickly?
Look for the moment a conclusion feels obvious before the evidence, context, or opposite explanation has been checked.
What should I ask instead?
Ask what information is missing, what would change your mind, and whether the strongest counterexample has been considered.