#self-serving bias

সেলফ সারভিং বায়াস: নিজের ব্যর্থতার দায়ভার অন্যকে দিতে যখন আমরা অযুহাতের দারস্ত হই (পর্ব – দুই) )

আচ্ছা আপনার কি কখনো মনে হইছে? আমরা কেন অজুহাত তৈরির মাধ্যমে নিজের দোষের দায়ভার অন্যের ঘাড়ে চাপাতে চাই? আমাদের বহুল চর্চিত “অজুহাত” টি আদতে কি? কেনই বা আমরা স্রস্টা প্রদত্ত দুইটি হাত রেখে অজুহাত এর দারস্ত হই? আচ্ছা,অজুহাত সৃষ্টির সময় মানুষের মনে কি ধরণের প্রভাবক কাজ করে? অজুহাত সৃষ্টির জন্য আমার বন্ধু মহলে যারা খুব বেশি পারদর্শী তাদের অনেককেই আমি “অজুহাত” নিয়ে এই জাতীয় প্রশ্ন করেছিলাম কিন্তু হাসব…

সেলফ সারভিং বায়াস: নিজের ব্যর্থতার দায়ভার অন্যকে দিতে যখন আমরা অযুহাতের দারস্ত হই (পর্ব – এক)

বলুন তো বাংগালীর কয়টা হাত? আপনি যদি একটু সহজ সরল হন তবে আপনার উত্তর হবে। স্রষ্টা প্রদত্ত ডান ও বাম মিলে দুইটা হাত। কিন্তু আপনার মাথার আই কিউ লেবেল যদি একটু মোটা দাগের হয় তবে আমি নিশ্চত জানি আপনার উত্তর হবে তিন টা হাত। কারন স্রষ্টা আমাদের ডান ও বাম হাত তো দিয়েছেন ই এই দুই হাতের সাথে  আমরা আরো একটা হাত নিজেরাই পয়দা করেছি। এই হাত দেখা যায় না, ছোঁয়া ও যায়, স্পর্সের অনুভুতি ও পাওয়া যায় না, তবে যদি…

New Post has been published on https://www.crownofcompassion.org/2018/07/30/behavior-modification-plan-sin-avoidance/

Behavior modification plan - sin avoidance

“On the behavior modification plan, I define integrity as ‘sin avoidance.’  As long as I’m engaged in forbidden behaviors, I think I’m on the right track.”- John Ortberg

John Ortberg concludes Chapter 10 of When the Game is Over as he stresses that problems with integrity center in the heart.  Thus, integrity involves something much bigger that simple avoidance of breaking the rules.  Also, integrity doesn’t result from getting really good at not doing the things you want to do.  Rather, Pastor Ortberg asserts, it means “becoming the kind of person who does the right thing.”

Yet, John observes, humans possess an almost limitless ability for self-deception.  Thus, the author takes a look at two integrity problems:

self-serving bias: a blind spot in human nature that causes us to make ourselves the heroes of our stories.  As heroes, we exaggerate our role in victories, but absolve ourselves of blame for failure and error.

fundamental attribution error: if something good happens to you, you tend to explain it by taking credit for it.  However, if you fail, you blame your circumstances.  Also, we tend to explain our bad behavior in terms of mitigating circumstances.  Yet we explain others’ bad behavior in terms of their character defects.

In conclusion, Pastor Ortberg notes, there’s a way back home for rule-breakers — grace through repentance.  For we need God’s help in order to clearly see the truths about our lives and character.  Living with grace is better than anything else.  As Scottish preacher James Stalker (1848-1927) explains, only Jesus fully understood and lived the rules:

“The most important part of the training of the Twelve was on which was perhaps at the time little noticed, though it produced splendid results – the silent and constant influence of his character on them.  It was this that made them into the men they became.”

Today’s question: How often do you resort to a behavior modification plan?  Please share.

The other day I listened to an interesting episode from Daniel Pink’s Podcast 1-30-20 in which he spoke with Annie Duke about her book Thinking in Bets. Duke has developed a life philosophy based on betting that has helped her in life, led her to win the World Series of Poker, and made her a successful business consultant. The premise of her philosophy is that people are happier and more successful when they improve their decision-making abilities. She equates good decision making with effective betting. 

Duke’s theory is that good decision makers embrace luck (good and bad) and take full responsibility for the skill they bring to the equation. This theory doesn’t sound all that profound until Duke explains how most of us operate and make decisions based on self-serving bias. Self-serving bias is when we attribute good luck to our own skills and abilities and attribute bad luck to something else or someone else's poor performance. This perspective is self-serving because it always casts us in a good light and makes us feel good about a given outcome, but it prevents us from learning from reality. Instead Duke argues that we should strive for something she calls “objective representation of the world.”

In one example of self-serving bias, Duke says if we happen to run through several red lights without having an accident, we might conclude that we don't need to stop at red lights. Conversely, if we are unlucky and have several accidents while driving through a green light, we might begin stopping when we come to a green light. Duke uses this extreme and unlikely example to illustrate how we often make false, self-serving conclusions about our work and environment that give us a less informed, nuanced, and effective perspectives on the world.

Instead, we should strive to understand what aspects of our environment are truly influenced by our actions, skills, and abilities, and which fall outside our locus of control. By parsing out those elements of our world that are subject to chance, and simply embracing them for what they are, we can more effectively focus our time and attention on mastering those elements that we control.

There are several parallels between Duke’s betting philosophy and approaches to effective leadership. Most effective leaders establish an organizational tone and culture of continuous improvement. Improving ourselves and our operations is virtually impossible if we are making decisions and evaluating our performance based on self-serving bias.

Self-serving bias leads us to think that our operational successes are the result of our keen skills and intellect. We pat ourselves on the back for our great work but fail to study what good decisions and best practices were actually responsible for the success. Meanwhile, when something goes wrong, we are quick to find a scapegoat and rush to blame something or someone other than ourselves for a failed project or poor performance.

Modeling Duke's objective representation of the world approach means being curious and dispassionate about the factors that influence the world we live in. If we’re less concerned about being right (self-serving bias) and more interested in learning, we’ll improve our ability to make sound decisions. We’ll be able to separate skill from luck and apply a more nuanced and realistic view of the world in order to make better decisions about the future. You can bet your life on it!