How to Spot and Counteract Choice-Supportive and Selection Biases

Bridging IT and Business: the Behavioral Underpinnings of Successful OCM

I help people harness the power of technology to stay ahead. Specifically, the Microsoft 365 platform and its array of collaborative and efficiency-enhancing features is a choice many organizations are gravitating toward. Yet, technology adoption is often laden with resistance and missteps. Here, the convergence of organizational change management (OCM) and insights from behavioral economics can provide guidance.

Being a continual student of Behavioral Economics and OCM, I've seen how subtle cognitive biases can significantly impact the trajectory of technology adoption projects. Today, we will delve into two such biases – choice-supportive bias and selection bias, exploring how an OCM strategy can significantly help IT transformation efforts while, at the same time, nurturing trust between the IT and business domains.

Choice-Supportive Bias: Navigating the Old and the New

Choice-supportive bias manifests when individuals reminisce about their previous choices more favorably than they actually were. In transitioning to Microsoft 365, employees might prefer the earlier systems, overlooking the potential advantages. This bias can hamper the transformation initiative's adoption rate and overall success. There is a nuance when I am speaking with business users about something like Outlook, and I am talking about the latest Outlook (often the preview that will be released next month) and the person on the other side of the conversation is thinking Outlook 2016.

By engaging employees in a dialogue, acknowledging their familiarity with previous systems, and articulating the benefits of the updates to Microsoft 365, you create a conducive environment for change. The objective is to foster a positive perception, paving the way for a smoother transition. Another example is when people share attachments rather than links. In the past, they have chosen to share attachments as a way of collaborating. They have chosen to attach, which biases them to discount the level of collaboration they can get from sharing a link (it also creates multiple versions and forces linear contributions instead of asynchronous effort, but that is for another post).

Selection Bias: Amplifying Every Voice

Selection bias arises when the feedback or data collected is skewed toward specific groups or perspectives. In the OCM journey, if the feedback loops primarily capture the experiences of tech-savvy departments, the unique challenges less tech-oriented individuals face might be noticed. This leads to a training program or communication strategy that only resonates with some employees. Working with those eager for new technologies and wanting to be involved is easier. It is closely related to Survivorship Bias in that we use the data from those who survive our choices to include them. Famously, Abraham Wald worked in WW2 to improve the armor on plans returning from missions. The team had mapped out all the places where the planes had been shot and wanted to reinforce those areas. Abraham stopped this misguided effort, pointing out that the data was from the planes that did come back, and what they needed to strengthen was the armor in the areas that the planes that didn't come back had gotten.

Combating selection bias requires a comprehensive approach to feedback and data collection. This ensures a broad spectrum of experiences and challenges are considered in devising the OCM strategy. It is harder to get data from other groups that are less engaged, but the project's success depends upon it. This inclusivity enriches the change management process and underscores the collaborative ethos between IT and other business units.

Building Trust: A Pillar of Successful Transformation

Well-orchestrated OCM efforts, rooted in understanding behavioral biases, can significantly enhance the efficacy of IT transformation initiatives. Through awareness and effort of these biases, we ease the transition journey and lay down the pillars of trust between the IT department and the broader business community. The old saying people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care is common in today's enterprise IT and business relationship. On many projects, there are changes to how people work with information that will impact business user's daily lives. IT departments must understand the technical impacts of changes and how they impact business users trying to get their work done. Starting with an effort to understand can build trust that transcends the immediate project, establishing a robust foundation for future collaborative endeavors.

Towards a Synergistic Horizon

The intersection of behavioral economics and OCM presents an informative lens through which IT transformations can be proficiently navigated. We can foster a culture of inclusivity, openness, and continuous learning by understanding and addressing the underlying biases. This can amplify the success rate of current IT transformation efforts and nurture a resilient, trust-filled environment essential for the iterative journey of business evolution.

The rapport between IT and business is an evolving narrative unique to each enterprise. Since I spend my time split between having conversations with IT and business leaders, I have a unique perspective on the divide between the two groups. The IT departments will tell me how Sales, Marketing, Ops, Shipping, etc... are using shadow IT (technology not controlled and managed by IT) to do X, Y, and Z. The business units will then tell me that IT does not understand the technologies they need to perform in their roles. Embracing the creative tensions (Both And Thinking) in this dynamic creates an opportunity to improve the relationship. With every successful project, the mutual trust deepens, setting a positive precedent for future collaborations.