Understand your own bias as a practitioner

Alexei Sidorenko has shared an interesting article with the title of If cognitive biases in decision making are a given, how do risk managers overcome them?

I recommend it and like the infographic he has included.

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But there’s a different issue, which he has not addressed in his piece: the bias of the practitioner.

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Whatever your role, you have biases. These cognitive biases are likely to affect your own decision-making and the information you provide to leadership.

For example:

• If you don’t like or respect a department manager, you are more likely (as an auditor) to rate his or her area as high risk and include it in your audit plan. You are also less likely to trust their controls and their response to any issues you might identify. As a risk officer, you might similarly be more likely to question their ability to identify and assess risks and opportunities.
• If you like a department head, you are more likely to accept without question what they have to say. You are also more likely to listen to them and be willing to partner with them on assessments, corrective actions, and so on.
• If you have had poor experiences in the past with a particular process or function, that will influence…