Quick advice for tackling biases from 3 greats

Diversity of thought in a team can be one of the hardest things to navigate, yet it’s also the most rewarding when driving meaningful change.

Actively listening to viewpoints different from our own demands significant mental effort. Our brains naturally prefer sameness because we're wired to conserve energy for survival, aka, we tend towards laziness.

In my quest to better understand how diverse structures and approaches enhance decision-making, I came across Dr Juliet Bourke's insightful TED talk, "How to be smarter and make better choices." It's packed with powerful ideas, so much so that I've got a copy of her book on order from the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

One standout insight highlighted how three great leaders intentionally tackle their own biases:

🤝Barack Obama avoids random brainstorming. Instead, he asks each advisor individually to share their perspective fully, and only moves on once he clearly understands and articulates their viewpoint.

📈 Warren Buffett actively seeks critics. He purposefully engages with people who strongly disagree with him, ensuring their opposing views are clearly heard and understood.

🐒 While writing "On the Origin of Species", Charles Darwin immediately wrote down ideas contradicting his own. He knew biases toward similar thinking are strong and understood the importance of consciously engaging with differing perspectives to keep them from slipping away.