We humans are no different. When dealing with unpleasant information, or information that challenges us in a way that we don’t want to be challenged, we pretend the information doesn’t exist. We bury our heads in the sand just like the ostriches.
Behavioral economist George Loewenstein of Carnegie Mellon University coined the term “the ostrich effect” to describe this phenomenon. It is a cognitive bias that makes people avoid negative information, including any feedback that can help them get a sense of how they are doing on their goals especially when the information is perceived to be unpleasant, undesired, or evokes a strong negative emotional response.
You face far worse consequences. A simple problem turns into a much more complicated situation when ignored long enough making it far worse and difficult to handle later. The added stress and anxiety impact your health, mental well-being, and overall quality of life.Without watching your behavior and thinking in crucial circumstances, the ostrich effect may impact your thinking and make you react unfavorably to undesirable information.
Thinking about doing something with a potentially bad outcome triggers a fear response. Our body goes on high alert trying to fight this decision as a natural protection mechanism to keep us away from danger. The higher the perceived danger, the stronger is the emotional response to fight it. When seeking potentially unpleasant information, try taking small steps towards it. For example, if you need to get a design proposal reviewed but fear that others may not like it, do this:2nd small step: Review their comments and incorporate their feedback.
We make thousands of decisions in a day, big and small. Realistically speaking, it isn’t feasible to optimize all of those decisions. But it will add a lot of value if we can learn to optimize at least a few critical ones. However, they fail to realize that their growth is one step outside their comfort zone. Discomfortable moments signal that you are stretching and expanding your skills, that you are doing some worthwhile work. If you aren’t struggling, you aren’t really learning and growing.
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