Are you filtering the evidence?

I recently read an excerpt from Ray Dalio’s book Principles. The section was on open-mindedness and closed-mindedness and how we could become more open-minded. I polled several friends and advisors on what my level of open-mindedness was and got some really helpful feedback. I’m an avid “self-learner” because I believe that only through understanding myself can I help others with “self-help”. It’s like what they tell you on the airplanes: put your own oxygen mask on first before helping others.

After contemplating my level of open-mindedness, the next section was on how we could train ourselves to be radically open-minded. One of the suggestions here is to be evidence-based and encourage others to be the same.

This is another of easy to say, hard-to-do self-help suggestion, I know, but the least we can do is try to spot when we are filtering the evidence.

What does filtering the evidence mean? According to the book, it is “making their decisions based on what their deep-seated subconscious mind wants and then they filter the evidence to make it consistent with those desires.”

What do we want to be most of the time? We want to be right.

Case in point, when an employee is under-performing at work but they do not see their own faults and filter the evidence to support their case. Sometimes you may feel that you are performing well at work, when in fact, the situation may be the complete opposite. A common example would be someone who thinks that performing on par with their KPIs elevates them beyond other behaviour that is detrimental to the business.

What they are filtering out of their own picture but is evident to other team members is that they…

• Are consistently late to work but leave on time

• Miss client meetings because they “forgot about it” but treat it as no big deal

• Arrive late or just don’t show up to client meetings because the bus was late

• Consistently miss deadlines which creates a bottleneck for other members of the team

Evidently, their picture was distorted by a rosy filter that cast away all of the issues and impact their bad behaviour was having on the business and other team members.

It’s tough to be objective about this and admit when you have filtered the evidence. If you think you may be prone to doing this, it’s time for a reality check.

How can you conduct a reality check?

1. Talk to your boss and ask them how you’re doing on different aspects of your job. You can even ask if you’re in danger of losing your job. These are all fair questions.

2. Be objective and assess whether you aren’t meeting the basic requirements of a job. Being late, missing deadlines, and leaving clients hanging, these actions set a bad example for others on the team, and also ruin the reputation of the firm. Just because it doesn’t impact you doesn’t mean you should ignore it. Ignorance isn’t bliss in this case.

3. TAKE THE FEEDBACK. I don’t know how to stress this point, but this circles back to being open-minded to feedback, or at the very least, listening to what is being shared with you. One of the most interesting things I’ve noticed is that employees often bring in a notebook with them to a feedback meeting but then they never take any notes. The purpose of a check-in with management isn’t to just ‘survive it’, it’s to help you improve yourself by the next check-in. If you aren’t measuring your progress, for example, noting down the feedback being provided to you, then how do you know if you’ve gotten better?

4. Talk to someone who doesn’t share your point of view. Now, this probably means someone who’s not your friend on the team. What would they tell you about your performance? Talking just to your friends and seeking affirmation from them isn’t truly getting feedback that would help you, it will actually hinder your progress. This may be the toughest suggestion to implement, but it will pay you back in spades.

While I certainly hope you aren’t filtering the evidence at work, we should all go through this exercise at least once per quarter to get an objective view of where we stand with our roles. While KPIs are great, they aren’t and shouldn’t be the be-all-end-all. They give a great foundation for your team and management to evaluate how you’re performing as a peer and as a member of the team, but if your actions and behaviour don’t align with the values of the company and may even be detrimental to the firm, don’t be surprised if things don’t go your way.