Am I considering prior incidents as evidence?

Incident investigation is one area where experience can hinder as much as help. Although in some cases experience can limit bias – for example anchoring bias can be reduced with more experience – in other cases it can enhance it.

Representativeness bias brings the tendency to match what we’re hearing in an interview to our previous experiences. It can lead to perceived similarities in people or situations that aren’t necessarily there in reality. Representativeness bias creates problems due to stereotyping – where we value or dismiss someone’s information because of our own preconceptions and assumptions about their characters. Availability bias can also mean we often draw on our most recent experiences to provide the situations we are matching to, further limiting the information collection process.

Avoid thinking back to prior incidents and assumptions that this ‘always happens’ or, worse, this ‘always happens like this’ or ‘because of this’. Assumptions are driven by bias and form the foundations of the familiar investigation criticism that What You Look For Is What You Find (WYLFIWYF). Patterns will always appear, and there is a reason the top causal factors of incidents remain roughly the same year-on-year. However, patterns should be treated with caution and conclusions avoided until all the information has been collected and analyzed appropriately.

Suggested actions:

For Interviewers

• Prior knowledge of a process or system of work can help but be careful you are not assuming things were done the same way and for the same reasons in this particular instance.
• Let the interviewees talk freely, don’t interrupt, or finish their sentences for them – keep quiet and let them explain what they think actually happened.
• Actively listen to the details of this incident and be mindful to avoid jumping to conclusions.
• When patterns do appear, or your experience reminds you of past incidents that could be relevant here, acknowledge it but be mindful of the biases that can result. Tread carefully.

For Managers

• Be flexible in your resourcing and ensure enough headroom in scheduling to allow colleagues to collaborate on investigations as needed.
• Create investigative teams or pairs with different expertise and experience to bring different perspective to the process.

Find out more about anchoring bias, representativeness bias, stereotypes and availability bias here.