Quality Consciousness Bias

Quality Consciousness Bias

Time for Reflection

Has there been times when you lost out on an opportunity because you abandoned/ delayed taking a decision as you were not sure about the quality of the process/ product ?

Maybe - that project proposal, that idea you always wanted to put across to your boss/ management, that opinion you wanted to give. Well, the list goes on and we can cite "n" number of scenarios for this. These scenarios get manifested because of "Quality Consciousness" bias. Let's discuss more about the same

About "Quality Consciousness" Bias 

"Quality Consciousness" bias refers to our tendency to defer or abandon decision-taking because we are unsure about the quality of the process/ product.

Maintaining quality is crucial for success, whether at an individual level or business level but many a times in our life, we lose out on opportunities just for the reason that we were not okay with the quality, resulting in stalling of projects, assignments and also in stagnancy (stuck and unable to move). 

The more the responsibility on us, the more quality conscious we get because a lot is put at stake - our credibility, our survival, our growth and more.  

The bias may occur because of 

• non-adherence to certain identified standards and specification
• inability to recognise the exact area and aspect - whether the issue lies at the product/ service/ task level or in the decision-making process.
• lack of requisite knowledge about the quality aspect in the related context
• tendency to ensure 100% even when it is not required 
• reliance on single interpretation of quality i.e. self or an expert

The bias impacts in some of the following ways

• results in delays and cancellation of projects, assignments but also
• impacts the self-confidence and self-esteem of the person. 
• puts undue stress on the person, resulting in procrastination and inaction

 

Some of the ways, the risks of Quality Consciousness could be mitigated are by 

• Using an established framework for decision-making to ensure rationality in the process
• Awareness and Knowledge about the quality benchmarks related to the product
• Follow the SOP (Standard Operating Procedures) if the context is a task
• Focus on ensuring progress instead of undesirable quality 
• Involve/ Engage a 3rd party to ensure quality monitoring