The Downside of De-Biasing Expert Organisational Decision-Makers (original) (raw)

The modern job market is changing rapidly. Whereas previously employees would often stay at a job for decades, it has now become more and more common for individuals to search for another employer after a few years on the job. While this choice lies in the hands of employees, there is a considerable benefit for employers as well: it has become easier for companies to hire professionals who have already gained experience in the field. This is experience not only in the form of knowledge, but especially in the form of having pre-existing ideas of how to handle situations and make decisions. While the concept of experience is generally seen as beneficial, a concept often viewed as undesirable is inextricably linked to it: bias. Scholars have, for many years, focused on the negative effects of bias, and how to eliminate it from individuals’ decision-making (Kahneman, Slovic, & Tversky, 1982; Kahneman & Tversky, 2000; Croskerry, 2002). This essay will look into the matter of whether it is desirable to de-bias organisational decision-makers. Naturalistic Decision-Making and the Recognition-Primed Decision model will be used as a theoretical framework for the analysis. A background for the discussion will be established by defining the concepts of heuristics, bias, and de-biasing. Also, the main views of the heuristics and biases approach, as well as those within Naturalistic Decision-Making, will be discussed. It will be argued that de-biasing of experienced organisational decision-makers should not be pursued, because it undermines a main reason for their employment. Finally, an alternative will be provided as a solution to the possible problems stemming from heuristic use, while avoiding the detrimental effects of de-biasing.