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Complacency, bias and stupid questions
The key to good decision making is recognising our unconscious biases and speaking up when we have doubts
PEOPLE & CULTURE
James Tickell
Partner, Campbell Tickell
James Tickell
Partner, Campbell Tickell
Issue 81 | December 2025
Some years ago, I was speaking to a board about good governance, as I have been known to do. I respectfully suggested that complacency was an enemy of good decision making. An authoritative older gentleman explained to me in no uncertain terms that there was absolutely no danger of complacency around that particular table.
At first I thought he was making a clever joke, but no, he was deadly serious. Luckily, others present were less… well… complacent about complacency, and we had a lively discussion. I now know that he was a living demonstration of the ‘Dunning Kruger’ effect (worth Googling) whereby the less you know, the more confident you become!
“Being a sole dissenting voice is a lonely place to be. It can be hard to challenge ‘experts’ or established authorities. No one wants to look silly or alarmist in front of their peers.”
Good people, bad decisions
Since then, I’ve reluctantly become something of an expert on how good people can make bad decisions. And behind complacency lie various forms of unconscious bias.
All of us see the world through the filters of our previous experience or assumptions. Whenever a serious problem emerges, someone almost always knew, or suspected, but didn’t feel able to ask the question. Being a sole dissenting voice is a lonely place to be. It can be hard to challenge ‘experts’ or established authorities. No one wants to look silly or alarmist in front of their peers.
But there’s more to it than that. People who think, speak or look different to the perceived norm may find their views are given less weight. At its simplest, older and well-educated white men can expect a level of deference not always accorded to others, and of course I write as one of that privileged cohort.
Behaviour plays its part too. Micro-aggressions, such as eye-rolling, tapping on a keyboard, paper shuffling, or conspicuously looking out of the window can undermine most would-be speakers.
Recognising bias
Real diversity of thought is vital to good decision making, with social class being just as important as the more evident protected characteristics. Affinity bias is when we favour the views of others who are more like ourselves. It’s only human nature for that to be the case, and we have to be aware of it to resist it.
But there are other biases at work too. The ‘we’ve always done things this way’ assertion can sway many a vote. We all know that change is unsettling as it goes against the status quo. Who wants to challenge the accepted wisdom?
The most interesting bias, however, is the famous confirmation bias. This is when we choose to ignore evidence that contradicts our established beliefs, sometimes even when it is (literally) staring us in the face. The linked ‘sunflower effect’ further leads people to seek the favour of perceived alphas, by sycophantic support for their every remark. Facts that inconveniently contradict their beliefs are ignored, contradicted, or set aside. And then a few months later, they come round and bite us on the ankle.
Confirmation bias can also be reinforced by recency bias – attaching more weight to the most recent events, and overlooking those from longer ago.
Good decisions
And then my personal favourite – the dreaded sunk cost fallacy, whereby a person is reluctant to abandon a strategy or course of action because they have invested heavily in it, even when it is clear that abandonment would be more beneficial. This has certainly bitten my own ankle at least once!
I was in an organisation which was expensively installing a new computer system, allegedly all-singing, all-dancing. Millions had been spent, and it seemed to me that the system would never work as promised. I wanted to pull the plug and start again. But the experts persuaded me that I was wrong, and that failure was unthinkable. Reader, it was not unthinkable, and the plug was duly pulled a couple of years and a couple of millions later. On the bright side, I was never held accountable for my poor decision or not acting on my instincts, except by myself.
So how then to combat bias, and make good decisions? Being aware of the risk is a good first step. Respect for others, however they look or speak, is vital. Board leadership by the Chair and other senior figures sets the context. And I leave you with one axiom – there is no such thing as a stupid question, unless, that is, you haven’t read the papers!
“I wanted to pull the plug and start again. But the experts persuaded me that I was wrong, and that failure was unthinkable. Reader, it was not unthinkable, and the plug was duly pulled a couple of years and a couple of millions later.”
