Amy Edmondson, Professor of Leadership at Harvard Business School, 2024 Photo by FutureThink via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Leaders can leverage the design practice of framing to challenge persistent biases such as status quo bias and confirmation bias ▾. In organisational transformations, cognitive biases often hinder employees’ openness to change. One of the most persistent is status quo bias, where individuals favour familiar practices and avoid the perceived risks of untested alternatives. On top of this, confirmation bias leads people to favour data that supports their preexisting beliefs or assumptions, dismissing conflicting evidence - particularly in risk-averse situations. Framing refers to how information is presented and interpreted. In design, this involves clearly defining what is being created, who it serves, and why it matters. These elements, often overlooked in traditional settings, are made explicit to prevent misalignment and ensure all stakeholders share the same understanding. How leaders and employees communicate change initiatives can either enhance or obstruct acceptance, resulting in either enthusiasm or resistance ✻, Edmondson 2018. “The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth.”For example, when launching a change initiative, explicitly linking its goals to unique challenges within the organisation helps illustrate why sticking to current practices may not be sufficient. This approach not only fosters alignment but also encourages critical thinking, prompting employees to question traditional methods and explore alternative solutions with greater openness.
Leaders can adopt the design practice of diverging before converging to counter availability bias and anchoring bias ▾. When faced with challenges, individuals tend to gravitate toward the most readily available explanations or solutions, a phenomenon known as availability bias. This limits their ability to explore alternative perspectives or root causes. Additionally, once an idea is formed, anchoring bias can make people resistant to substantial changes, causing them to refine initial ideas rather than seek entirely new approaches. By generating a wide range of ideas early on, employees ensure they do not prematurely settle on suboptimal solutions. For example, in a brainstorming session, encouraging participants to propose even unconventional ideas prevents reliance on the first, most obvious solution. Together, participants evaluate these ideas to identify the root problem and develop innovative, collaborative approaches. This method fosters creative exploration, breaking free from the constraints of habitual thinking.
Iterative thinking is one of the hardest practices to adopt, and helps overcoming
overconfidence bias and sunk cost bias ▾.
Organisational transformations require adaptability, yet decision-makers often fall
victim to biases that limit their ability to pivot. One such bias is overconfidence
bias, where feedback is disregarded, ideas are rushed, and early warnings are
overlooked. Similarly, sunk cost bias can lead organisations to continue investing in
failing initiatives simply because resources have already been committed.
This approach emphasises learning instead of jumping to implementation - exploring new ideas
through cost-effective, small-scale experiments that bring valuable insights before large
investments are made. For example, when developing a new office space, employees might
prototype and test several iterations with colleagues before scaling up. By focusing on
learnings gained through each iteration rather than clinging to the initial concept,
participants avoid the trap of overconfidence and are more willing to let go of ineffective
solutions.
This process also encourages employees to “kill their darlings”: setting aside emotional
attachment to early ideas in favour of refining solutions based on feedback. Iterating
repeatedly leads to more thoughtful, sustainable, and impactful outcomes - outcomes that
balance creativity with practical considerations.