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Cognitive Biases in Engineering Organizations -...

Cognitive Biases in Engineering Organizations - Craft Conf

Jonathan Klein

April 29, 2016
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  1. Craft Conf – April 29th, 2016 @jonathanklein Jonathan Klein in

    Engineering Organizations Cognitive Biases
  2. jkle.in/craft @jonathanklein Who Am I? • Director of Engineering at

    Attend • Co-Author of Hound (a code search tool) 3
  3. jkle.in/craft @jonathanklein Who Am I? • Director of Engineering at

    Attend • Co-Author of Hound (a code search tool) • I like figuring out why we believe what we believe 3
  4. 4

  5. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft System 2 Allocates attention to the effortful mental

    activities that demand it, including complex computations 7
  6. “Although DK is thrilled by the remarkable intuitive skills of

    experts that GK and others have described, he also takes considerable pleasure in demonstrations of human folly and in the comeuppance of overconfident pseudo-experts. For his part, GK recognizes that formal procedures and algorithms sometimes outdo human judgment, but he enjoys hearing about cases in which the bureaucratization of decision making fails.” Conditions for Intuitive Expertise A Failure to Disagree
  7. “It was designed for right-handed users, but phones are usually

    rotated 180 degrees when held in left hands.” 15
  8. jkle.in/craft @jonathanklein • Projection Bias • Planning Fallacy • Bandwagon

    Effect • Sunk Cost Fallacy • Hyperbolic Discounting • Fundamental Attribution Error 16
  9. 23

  10. 32

  11. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Projection Bias One thinks that others have the

    same priority, attitude or belief that one harbors oneself, even if this is unlikely to be the case. 37
  12. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Projection Bias One thinks that others have the

    same priority, attitude or belief that one harbors oneself, even if this is unlikely to be the case. Solution 37
  13. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Projection Bias One thinks that others have the

    same priority, attitude or belief that one harbors oneself, even if this is unlikely to be the case. Solution Empathy 37
  14. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Projection Bias One thinks that others have the

    same priority, attitude or belief that one harbors oneself, even if this is unlikely to be the case. Solution Empathy Have people switch roles 37
  15. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Planning Fallacy The tendency for people to underestimate

    how long they will need to complete a task, even when they have experience of similar tasks over-running 39
  16. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Planning Fallacy The tendency for people to underestimate

    how long they will need to complete a task, even when they have experience of similar tasks over-running Solution 39
  17. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Planning Fallacy The tendency for people to underestimate

    how long they will need to complete a task, even when they have experience of similar tasks over-running Solution Prototyping 39
  18. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Planning Fallacy The tendency for people to underestimate

    how long they will need to complete a task, even when they have experience of similar tasks over-running Solution Prototyping Use information from similar ventures 39
  19. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Planning Fallacy The tendency for people to underestimate

    how long they will need to complete a task, even when they have experience of similar tasks over-running Solution Prototyping Use information from similar ventures “Planning poker” exercise 39
  20. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Story Point Best Practices Points != Time Points

    Don’t Translate Across Teams Points Don’t Work For Huge Projects 44
  21. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Bandwagon Effect The rate of uptake of beliefs,

    ideas, fads and trends increases the more that they have already been adopted by others 48
  22. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Bandwagon Effect The rate of uptake of beliefs,

    ideas, fads and trends increases the more that they have already been adopted by others Solution 48
  23. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Bandwagon Effect The rate of uptake of beliefs,

    ideas, fads and trends increases the more that they have already been adopted by others Solution Make decisions asynchronously 48
  24. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Bandwagon Effect The rate of uptake of beliefs,

    ideas, fads and trends increases the more that they have already been adopted by others Solution Make decisions asynchronously Ask for confidential feedback 48
  25. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Bandwagon Effect The rate of uptake of beliefs,

    ideas, fads and trends increases the more that they have already been adopted by others Solution Make decisions asynchronously Ask for confidential feedback Don’t prime the estimate 48
  26. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Bandwagon Effect The rate of uptake of beliefs,

    ideas, fads and trends increases the more that they have already been adopted by others Solution Make decisions asynchronously Ask for confidential feedback Don’t prime the estimate “Planning poker” exercise 48
  27. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Sunk Cost Fallacy A sunk cost is a

    retrospective (past) cost that has already been incurred and cannot be recovered 51
  28. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Sunk Cost Fallacy A sunk cost is a

    retrospective (past) cost that has already been incurred and cannot be recovered Solution 51
  29. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Sunk Cost Fallacy A sunk cost is a

    retrospective (past) cost that has already been incurred and cannot be recovered Solution Do some math 51
  30. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Sunk Cost Fallacy A sunk cost is a

    retrospective (past) cost that has already been incurred and cannot be recovered Solution Do some math At every point in the project, the ROI should still be positive 51
  31. 56

  32. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Hyperbolic Discounting Given two similar rewards, humans show

    a preference for one that arrives sooner rather than later. Humans are said to discount the value of the later reward, by a factor that increases with the length of the delay. 58
  33. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Hyperbolic Discounting Given two similar rewards, humans show

    a preference for one that arrives sooner rather than later. Humans are said to discount the value of the later reward, by a factor that increases with the length of the delay. Solution 58
  34. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Hyperbolic Discounting Given two similar rewards, humans show

    a preference for one that arrives sooner rather than later. Humans are said to discount the value of the later reward, by a factor that increases with the length of the delay. Solution Deliberately stop and do an estimation exercise 58
  35. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Hyperbolic Discounting Given two similar rewards, humans show

    a preference for one that arrives sooner rather than later. Humans are said to discount the value of the later reward, by a factor that increases with the length of the delay. Solution Deliberately stop and do an estimation exercise Consider implications for future developers 58
  36. jkle.in/craft @jonathanklein Experimental Outcomes Researchers found that children who were

    able to wait longer for the preferred rewards tended to have better life outcomes: • SAT Scores • Educational attainment • Body Mass Index (BMI) 63
  37. 64

  38. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Fundamental Attribution Error People's tendency to place an

    undue emphasis on internal characteristics to explain someone else's behavior in a given situation, rather than considering external factors. 66
  39. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Fundamental Attribution Error People's tendency to place an

    undue emphasis on internal characteristics to explain someone else's behavior in a given situation, rather than considering external factors. Solution Blameless postmortems 67
  40. 70

  41. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft A Quiz A ball and a bat together

    cost $1.10. The bat costs a dollar more than the ball. 72
  42. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft A Quiz A ball and a bat together

    cost $1.10. The bat costs a dollar more than the ball. How much does the ball cost? 72
  43. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Dinner Plates Soup/Salad bowls Dessert plates Cups Saucers

    8, all good condition 8, all good condition 8, all good condition 8, 2 broken 8, 7 broken 8, all good condition 8, all good condition 8, all good condition None None 75 Set A: 40 Pieces Set B: 24 Pieces
  44. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Dinner Plates Soup/Salad bowls Dessert plates Cups Saucers

    8, all good condition 8, all good condition 8, all good condition 8, 2 broken 8, 7 broken 8, all good condition 8, all good condition 8, all good condition None None 76 Set A: 40 Pieces Set B: 24 Pieces
  45. jkle.in/craft @jonathanklein Three Groups in the Experiment 1. Shown both

    sets together 2. Shown only set A 3. Shown only set B 77
  46. @jonathanklein jkle.in/craft Dinner Plates Soup/Salad bowls Dessert plates Cups Saucers

    8, all good condition 8, all good condition 8, all good condition 8, 2 broken 8, 7 broken 8, all good condition 8, all good condition 8, all good condition None None 80 Set A: 40 Pieces Set B: 24 Pieces
  47. jkle.in/craft @jonathanklein Subscriptions to The Economist 1. A web-only subscription

    for $59 2. A print-only subscription for $125 3. A web + print subscription for $125 82
  48. jkle.in/craft @jonathanklein Subscriptions to The Economist 1. A web-only subscription

    for $59 2. A print-only subscription for $125 3. A web + print subscription for $125 83 Useless
  49. jkle.in/craft @jonathanklein Subscriptions to The Economist 1. A web-only subscription

    for $59 2. A print-only subscription for $125 3. A web + print subscription for $125 84 16% 0% 84%
  50. jkle.in/craft @jonathanklein Subscriptions to The Economist 1. A web-only subscription

    for $59 2. A print-only subscription for $125 3. A web + print subscription for $125 85
  51. jkle.in/craft @jonathanklein Subscriptions to The Economist 1. A web-only subscription

    for $59 2. A print-only subscription for $125 3. A web + print subscription for $125 86 16% 84% 68% 32%