What’s common between Arnab Goswami, my uncle and a bad choice of job.

Arnab

Arnab has the uncanny ability to see how the accusation he has hurled in his question at the politician/expert/bureaucrat/socialite has been substantiated in the answer that has come back to him. No matter how different the answer, Arnab finds in it the nugget that vindicates his original accusation!

My Uncle (may his soul rest in peace)

I had an uncle who was a member of a political party from the times before independence. Himself a man of very high personal integrity and uncompromising values, he was surprisingly lenient in his views about the party.  For every misdeed of a party leader somewhere, he always found a reason.  He would quote the Mahabharat and how the Pandavas used means – that cant exactly be called fair – many times to win the battle. Surprisingly, such convenient metaphors were inadmissible when it came to any other political party or for any member of his family.

The High Potential Executive

Here is a situation that has played out many times with me.  .
A reasonably senior executive is unhappy in his current job. He is feeling (let us assume) stifled – not able to ring in the changes he wants or explore the new ideas he has because of his supervisor. He has been speaking to another organisation and the offer is on its way. The assignment is with an organisation where the original promoter is still running the place and says he wants ‘fresh ideas’ to recharge the organisation. He says that he will be ‘actively involved in supporting the person to bring about cultural changes and drive it with him……’
Here, what I hear is that he will have a meddling, interfering boss who is very used to exercising and wielding his power and who will be an equal, if not greater problem than his current one. What he hears is that the promoter is looking for ‘fresh ideas’ and will ‘support him’. I bring up the issue for his consideration; he brushes it aside – he believes he has the playground to try out all the ideas that his current boss has put a muzzle on. I voice my concern about whether the promoter will give him a free run as his intentions seem to be to remain actively involved; he reassures me that he got along well with him in the meeting, found him very gracious and charming.
Six months later, he is looking again!!!

Confirmation Biases

In her wonderfully readable book, The Art of Choosing, Sheena refers to problems like these being caused by our ‘Confirmation Biases’.  Here is what she has to say about them:
“As human beings we embrace information that supports what we already prefer or justifies choices we have made before in our lives. It always ‘feels’ better to justify our opinions rather than challenge them, to contemplate the pros and relegate the cons to the back of our minds.” She goes on to quote it as a key reason why people make wrong hiring choices as well – you like/dislike a person because of similarities/differences in personalities and then look for supporting evidence in your conversation, ignoring other aspects.

Arnab finds it easier to carry on with his story when he finds the nugget that supports his point of view. My uncle found it comforting to believe that his ideals and the institution he strongly subscribed to was not incorrect. The restless executive is happy to find confirmation that he is justified in feeling stifled and that there are organisations that value ideas and will give him the freedom to explore.
All of us are probably victims of Confirmation Bias at some stage or the other and usually realize in hindsight our lapses in judgment. So, what if any, are the ways to minimize their occurrence?

Inoculation

Since you are unlikely to know when the “Bias” will kick in, a good place to start is to decide that you will use a process for decisions on the really important issues in your life.
You could choose from a number of processes, all of which have two things in common – analysis and a mentor/guide/counselor/advisor/coach.
Here are two methods that I have found useful. If you know of more, please feel free to add.
OIC
The principle behind this method is to start with the desired Outcome, related to the context (job, relocation etc.), consider the Intent (why do you desire this Outcome) and think of the Consequences (of achieving the Outcome). This is best done with a Coach familiar with this technique who can take you through progressive layers of OICs until you arrive at a point when all three points in every layer of OIC are congruent.
At the very least, the practice of writing down the OIC for the first level itself will provide better clarity.
P&C
Yes, the good old ‘Pros’ and ‘Cons’ method. Again, writing it down will help provide clarity. You may wish to try to write it as though you were advising someone else. This detachment from self helps objectivity.
Very often, when we are making lists or analyzing an issue, we consider only the facts. Factor the emotions into this list as well. The feel of a place, the emotions you feel when with a person, your current state of mind, should be taken into account.  This is to both allow emotions to be factored into decisions as well as be aware when they distort.
Once the list is done to your satisfaction, get feedback on it from a trusted counselor.  When seeking feedback specifically ask the person if you are sounding biased in your judgment of the issue. Be sure to listen.

Hopefully your decision-making will improve and you would have confronted and defeated the virus of your biases.
As for Arnab Goswami, I believe he takes a daily injection of the viruses to keep his mind sharp and find the nuggets that would escape most of us.

p.s. Arnab Goswami is simply used as a metaphor for ‘experts’ and ‘TV Anchors’. No disrespect is intended to him as a person.