Timestamps

00:00:00: Introduction

00:01:31: Explanation of bias

00:02:44: Three significant biases…

00:03:02: … 1: affinity bias - scan for similarity

00:07:56: Idea for action: escape your function

00:12:04: … 2: confirmation bias - avoid pattern recognition

00:16:35: Idea for action: play devil's advocate with your development

00:20:03: … 3: recency bias - ask yourself questions that reflect on the past

00:25:32: Idea for action: keep a development diary

00:29:37: Final thoughts

Interview Transcription

Sarah Ellis: Hi, I'm Sarah.

Helen Tupper: And I'm Helen.

Sarah Ellis: And this is the Squiggly Careers podcast, where every week we talk about a different topic to do with work, and share some ideas and tools and actions that we hope will help you to just navigate this Squiggly Career with a bit more confidence, clarity and control.

Helen Tupper: And regular listeners will know that all of our episodes are supported with some resources to help your listening go that little bit further.  So we have got PodSheets, which are a one-page summary of the ideas for action and some questions to reflect on; we have also got PodMail, which pulls everything together, so make sure you're signed up for that if you want it in your inbox, to make everything easy; and we've got PodPlus, which is a weekly discussion that you can come to if you've got questions, or you just want to hear what other listeners think about a topic.  All the links for that stuff are on the show notes, so you can find it there.  You can also go to our website, amazingif.com and if you can't find any of that stuff, you can just email us.  We're helenandsarah@squigglycareers.com.

Sarah Ellis: So, in this week's podcast, we're talking about how bias can hold back your career development.  And you always know a topic is important when it takes us a couple of times to actually get to recording it.  We've done some research, we chatted it through, we've restructured it a few times, so hopefully this will be something that makes sense and that feels useful for you.  Because biases is a really big topic and there's a huge list of different biases, so it's really easy I think to get lost in this topic.  But there are a few that we think can be particularly limiting for your learning and your career development, so we're going to dive into some of those.

But just to start with what a bias is, it's an automatic way of thinking about something.  Our brains actually really like them because they are shortcuts that help us to filter information, they help us to understand the world.  The issue is, almost because our brains do like them I think, we attach ourselves to these biases.  Sometimes we don't know about them.  Even when we do know about them, sometimes we don't do much about them, we sort of let ourselves have them.  And they are influenced by probably our background and our experiences.  So, we have to be quite proactive, I think, about understanding these biases and how they might get in our way.

Helen Tupper: And as Sarah said, we are focusing on biases that hold back your career development.  And we're differentiating from systemic biases that are very, very important, things like age bias, gender bias, bias around race.  And there are some experts that we would recommend that you go to if you want some more information on those areas.  So, these are people like Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, for example on age, Sophie Williams and Tolu Farinto, both previous guests on our podcast that can give you some really expert insight into gender and race bias as well.  But we thought that our area of expertise is career development, and so we wanted to focus on the biases that hold that back.  And what we have pulled out is three biases that we think are most significant.  And for each one of them, we're going to talk about what the bias is, we're going to talk about the career development challenges that it creates, and then we've got some ideas for action that can increase your awareness and help you to move forward from it.

Sarah Ellis: So, the first bias we're going to chat about is called affinity bias, and usually with these biases the clue is a little bit in the title, so that's quite helpful to get us started.  And with affinity bias, it's when we seek out and are more comfortable with people who we have things in common with.  That could be people who think a bit like us, people who we've got shared experiences with, people who share our values and potentially even people who look like us.  So, I'm female, I might have more of an affinity with someone else who's female; I'm a mum I might have more affinity with someone else who's a mum; and I might have more affinity with people who've also worked in big companies because I'm like, "Oh, they're a bit like me", and we sort of attach ourselves to these people.  And that can be a challenge because it can limit our learning in quite a few different ways.

Helen Tupper: And so, in terms of the career development challenges that this can lead to, the first thing is that your career community can become a bit of an echo chamber trap, where you're all sort of reinforcing what each other thinks, and you're not necessarily bringing in new knowledge or new insights.  You might also focus on strong ties versus weak ties.  So, we've actually done an episode on this before, because the research shows that your opportunities for your career come from your weak ties, they're people that are a bit further away from what you do on a day-to-day basis.  But because with affinity bias, we tend to spend time with people who are a bit like us, we're often focusing on those strong ties.  So, you might feel well-supported, but over time you're probably going to weaken your career opportunities. The third one, which I think is a bit nuanced, but I think it's important to recognise, is you're not really investing in the skill of collaborating with difference.  If you're constantly communicating with people that feel comfortable, we're not stretching that strength about, "Well, how do we create connection with people who feel different to us?"  And the more able we are to do that, the more diverse communities we build around our career, that's the real point, we're not developing that strength.

Sarah Ellis: So, it can feel quite uncomfortable to ask this question, but obviously we always want to practice what we preach.  So, when you reflect on this one, Helen, how much do you think affinity bias shows up in your working week, for example?

Helen Tupper: I think in my working week, my average working week, I think quite a lot.  I think I spend time with some very similar people in some very similar ways.  But then I think I have moments in the month.  So, I think that's probably what I do, and I'm trying to do this more often.  I think I have moments in the month where I spend time with people who have very different experiences and very different backgrounds, and I really enjoy those moments.  I do sometimes feel they're difficult.  They definitely take more effort, because I feel like I have to start more conversations, I have to ask more questions.  But I always come back with more insights that I wouldn't have predicted like, "Oh, isn't that interesting?"  For those moments, I always have that like, "Oh, isn't that interesting?"  But yeah, it's moments in a month, not my average working week, I would say.  In my average working week, there's more affinity bias.  What about you?

Sarah Ellis: I think similar.  I definitely see it as an action around getting out of my comfort and challenge zone into my courage zone.  And I think courage zone is often doing things you've not done before, or where you know maybe they're going to be draining.  I actually had a conversation with somebody on Friday who was very different to me and I have to sort of force myself to do it and let go of the safety blanket and the security of, "Well, I know I like this person and I'd like to spend more time with that person, because we got on really well, we always have a nice conversation".  And I sometimes actually describe that as falling into the nice-chat trap where you're just like, "Oh, yeah, it's lovely, but I'm like, "Oh, but am I better because of it?" or, "How useful was that conversation?" or, "Have I just done more of the same?" I feel like affinity bias gets you to quite a lot of more of the same, especially for somebody like me who has a gremlin around conflict and works quite hard to try and cage that gremlin, I think this is one that I actively seek to make happen.  I don't think it would just happen, to your point.  I wonder with all of these biases, I feel like there's quite a lot of choice, like you've got to choose to try and challenge the bias, unless you are maybe naturally brilliant at this, and I don't think I am naturally brilliant, so I think it is definitely a choice for me.

Helen Tupper: So, in terms of increasing your awareness of how much this bias might be holding you back, what we would recommend is that you scan for similarity.  So, think about the ten people you spend the most time with today, that could be in work and out of work, and then what you're scanning for is how similar are they to you across those different dimensions, like the experiences, their ways of thinking, etc.  Because if you are scanning for similarity and you're like, "Oh, interesting, we're all from a similar place, we're all doing a similar job, we all work for the same company", then it might be that without really realising it, affinity bias could be getting in the way of your growth.  If you feel like you've got a lot of diversity and difference in those ten people, this might not be the bias that's holding you back.  If you scan for similarity, you'll start to get some signals that can support you.

Sarah Ellis: And one idea for action that we've got for you, which is inside your organisation, and we're calling it escape your function (for a bit).  So, we're not saying don't spend time in your function, but I think often within the day-to-day, I suspect a lot of people relate to that experience that Helen described of, you see lots of the same people every week, because of course you do, it's part of your day job to build relationships with certain people.  Maybe the people attracted to your function are more likely to be a bit like you, that may or may not be true, but you might notice that.  Maybe you've got some similar motivations or some similar values potentially.  And so actually, just spending time with other people in other functions, I think can just help to open up your eyes to different points of view, different perspectives.  It's a really good way to work your weak ties. If I was going to do this, I mean, I can't really escape my function in Amazing If, there's not really enough of us!  But if I think back to working in a bigger company, even just thinking about causes or campaigns I could get involved in internally, so things that I was passionate about, a bit more volunteering in a company was useful.  But just having a curious career conversation with, "Oh, do you fancy having a coffee?" with someone who was in procurement or someone who was in finance.  I always quite like getting a window into other people's world, and I think it naturally helps you to make sure you don't fall into that affinity bias too often.

Helen Tupper: Also joining ERGs, Employee Resource Groups in a company, would help you escape your function and spend time with different people in the business.  And the other thing you can do is spend time with different people outside of your organisation.  So, be really conscious about the communities that you connect with, particularly because they're going to give you a window into other people's worlds.  That could be being a trustee on a charity, which are things that Sarah and I have both done; it could be a club, like volunteering to spend time with a club that your kids are in, if you've got kids. One of the things that I have done recently is I've joined a community as part of an initiative that Ernst & Young run for entrepreneurial winning women.  So, there is a point of similarity; everyone on it is a woman and they all run a business!  But actually, those businesses are very, very different, and it's across EMEA.  So, you've got people running businesses in Africa, people running businesses in Europe, people running business in the Middle East, people running businesses like us in the UK, and these businesses are completely different.  Some person's got a gin business, for example, someone runs a life sciences business, some people run a career development company.

Sarah Ellis: I think we're the least interesting of those three, gin; saving lives; careers!

Helen Tupper: Saving careers by squiggling!

Sarah Ellis: With gin!

Helen Tupper: With gin maybe, sometimes it is with gin, that is true!  But what really helps me is just hearing just people's different experiences and how they've built their businesses and what they're driven by, and it really gets me out of my world for a bit and reduces some of that natural affinity bias that I might not have even known I was building into my career to be honest.  It's really made me conscious of that difference and how valuable it is.

Sarah Ellis: And I sometimes think when we suggest actions like this, it can feel hard or out of reach.  And maybe you listen to us and think, "Oh, well it's okay for you, maybe you're quite well-connected, you've got people who are helping you to do these things".  So, I discovered a really brilliant website, which is gettingonboard.org, and we'll put the link to that in the show notes.  And essentially, from what I've understood, by having a click around it, that company has been created, and it's a charity, to encourage people from different backgrounds, different levels of experience, younger people, to be a trustee, to get onto a board.  And sometimes I think those things can just feel a bit like, "Oh, I'm not senior enough", or our gremlins can get in our way.  And I was just reading that there's loads of useful resources, there's lots of opportunities, and loads of boards do want -- they are very mindful of we don't want more of the same. So, that might just be a good place to start if you're thinking about outside of your organisation, so not just escaping your function, but maybe it's more about escaping your industry for a while.

Helen Tupper: I always remember as well, it's a bit of a marketing thing because that's the world that Sarah and I were in before we moved into career development, but there's an organisation called Pimp My Cause, where you can volunteer your marketing skills to support other organisations, and they could be very, very different to the business that you might be in today.  So again, that could be an interesting one to have a look at.

Sarah Ellis: So, the next bias is confirmation bias, and this is when we search for and prioritise information that confirms our pre-existing views.  Basically, we reinforce what we already believe, so you sort of decide and then I think you stay quite stubborn, is my simple point of view on this.  And the career development challenges that creates is, the bias leads to a bit of a blueprint for your career so you feel like there's a formula to follow.  Perhaps something worked for you in the past and so you just think, "Well, I should just do that again", so you're a bit on repeat here because you're like, "Well, this is what I must do", and you're maybe not open to other ways of doing it or other opportunities, so your past really informs your future. You also, I think, become really blinkered, so that reduces your adaptability and agility.  We talked recently about learning agility and how important that is, and then when you are blinkered, you make bad decisions because I think you just become too zoomed in, too fixed on, "Well, this is what it is", almost too attached to an idea or an outcome, or this is what the answer is. 

I do think certain people have more of a challenge with this than others.  I was interviewing a lady called Cheryl Einhorn yesterday for one of our Ask the Expert episodes that's coming up on problem-solving, and she talks about problem-solving profiles, and certain problem-solver profiles are actually basically more likely to have confirmation bias.  They sort of go, "Well, it's this", and then they're relatively attached to it. So my hypothesis, with Helen's and my profile, is that Helen is less likely to have this challenge, and I'll see whether she thinks the same, from working with her.  And knowing a bit, she's not done her problem-solving profile yet I don't think, but listening to Cheryl I was thinking, "Oh, I don't feel like this is much of a challenge for Helen"; me a bit more.  So, with my profile, because I'm someone who cares and gets quite committed to things like ideas, I'll then do a very good job of influencing and persuading by sort of reinforcing why that idea is such a good idea, just essentially being a bit stubborn.

Helen Tupper: I would agree!

Sarah Ellis: At least I'm open about it!

Helen Tupper: At least I'm confronting the bias!  No, I'd also agree.  I was trying to think actually, do I think this bias holds me back?  And I don't think it does, because if I think about --

Sarah Ellis:  It's not you.

Helen Tupper: -- my career, I can let things go quite easily, I can do different things.  So my progression, for example, in companies wasn't always about promotion.  I could do sideways moves quite happily.  I left corporate life to go do Amazing If, and I didn't think that a certain progression had to look in one way.  I have definitely other biases that hold me back, but I don't think this is my one.  But I can see that kind of reinforcing thing, sometimes in you, not always.  I don't think this is a big one for you either.

Sarah Ellis: I think I know it.  The point about, "Do you know the bias?" and then, "Do you do something about it?" so I think I always know that I have a tendency to do this, which I think is just helpful.  The awareness just helps you to try and break the bias or rebalance the bias.  I do also think it's helpful to then spend time with someone who maybe has less of that bias, because I just see in you, you're so flighty!

Helen Tupper: That's so true!

Sarah Ellis: You're a bit like, "Oh, yeah, sure".

Helen Tupper: I've got an unconfirmation bias, "I'm not really sure.  I'm just going to do a bit of everything"!

Sarah Ellis: Yeah, you're like, "What about this?" and you like newness, you like freedom.  And so that, I suppose, when you watch different behaviour, you do learn by osmosis, right?  You learn like, "Oh, that's what it looks like to just let go of something", something that a minute ago you were trying to persuade me was like the best idea ever.  And then I'll sort of go, "Oh, I'm not sure, I kind of want this", "Yeah, sure".  I'm like, "Okay, well we're over that, are we?"

Helen Tupper: That is so true!  I get over things very quickly, "I love it, I love it, I'm done with it now"!

Sarah Ellis: I'm like, one day, is that what's going to happen to us?  I'm like, "She loves me and we work together, and then one day she's literally going to be like, 'I'm over it'", and I'll be there, clinging on for dear life for years.  I can really imagine it.  Yeah, okay, talk about the awareness and action before I have a little breakdown.

Helen Tupper: Awareness and action; so, awareness.  What are your progression patterns?  So, we're thinking about how might confirmation bias hold back your career?  If you are repeating the same patterns for your progression, that is one thing to really watch out for.  So this is stuff like assuming that progression must equal promotion, for example.  If that is a pattern in your career, you're like, "That's the only way I feel that I can move forward", it's likely that you're missing out on some opportunities.  And the very clever Sarah, because I feel like she might need a bit of supportive reinforcement right now, has come up with a nice way of thinking about taking an action.  If you spot you've got some progression patterns that might be holding you back, what we need to do is take some actions that are going to stop this kind of confirmation bias getting our way.  Sarah, would you like to talk through your lovely creation?

Sarah Ellis: I will.  I had a lot of fun actually creating this.  So, I was reading some research about this.  There's a really good Harvard Business School article about confirmation bias.  And they said, "The opposite of confirmation is curiosity".  So I was like, right, how could we actively be curious about making sure that we don't have this confirmation bias?  And I like the idea of playing devil's advocate with your own development, and doing it in first person so you're taking a bit of ownership for it.  So, let me just describe a couple of examples that I came up with, and maybe you'll recognise some of these, and maybe you'll be able to come up with even more. So, if you've got a confirmation bias that sounds like, "I need to move roles or maybe companies to progress in my career", devil's advocate would sound like, "The way to accelerate my career is to stay where I am today, and I'm going to squeeze every last ounce of value from it".  The devil's advocate is a bit cheekier in tone, by the way.  They're the same person, but I got cheekier and a bit more provocative!

Helen Tupper: You know what's really funny is I can see Sarah today, we don't always record in the same room, but when she plays the devil's advocate, she puts her head on the side.

Sarah Ellis: It's a bit sneaky!

Helen Tupper: Yeah, I like it, it's got a sneaky tilt to the head!

Sarah Ellis: So, my next one; confirmation bias, "I need to go on a course to learn this skill", whereas the devil's advocate would say, "The worst way to learn this skill is to go on a course.  I am going to learn by doing".  Very different.  Last one; confirmation bias, "To be successful in my career, I need to be a manager", and that's what everyone else does.  Devil's advocate would say, "Tthe last thing I want to do is to manage people.  Being successful doesn't look like being in charge of other people".  I definitely know that is true for some people.  There are people I know where I think they probably thought that first one, and then I think that devil's advocate has definitely become their reality when they understood the ins and outs of that.

Helen Tupper: I think it's really, really helpful, like the devil's advocate helps you challenge your assumptions.  And how often do we play that role for ourselves?  But that gives you just a bit of permission, I think.

Sarah Ellis: Yeah, and I think definitely, when I look back on some of my progression patterns, I actually had a real progression pattern.  You might be like, "Oh, well, it's a good thing because you were sort of Squiggly".  I always liked doing new stuff, so I was very like, "Oh, I always want new roles, things that people have not done before".  And I'd be quite sniffy about doing a job that someone had done before.  I would have been, "Oh, I don't want to do that.  They did that.  I don't want to go into someone else's shoes".  And actually, if I think back to it, I'm like, well, if I'd have played devil's advocate, I could have said to myself, "Oh, well the way to learn loads is to do something that someone's done before, take all of their learning, and then just be even better at it".  And you're like, yeah, sometimes it is okay to go and do something other people have done before, you don't always need to be doing something new.  And I think just having that little voice in your head, that little devil's advocate, I don't know, I think it might just help open up some opportunities for you.

Helen Tupper: Well, as well, if you're a mentor or a manager or a coach, so basically someone who's got influence over someone else's career in some way, I think you could probably help them by playing devil's advocate.  Perhaps you can see that they've got a confirmation bias potentially getting in their way, but what if?  That would probably be your way in, but just know that you're playing that devil's advocate for them if they can't do it for themselves.  Ultimately, I think you want them to do it for themselves because that gives them a bit more ownership over this, but you start that thinking process off. So, bias number three is a recency bias.  So, this is when we believe that recent events that we've gone through provide a window for how things will play out in the future. 

And it's really when immediacy and nowness gets in our way.  So, we're kind of dismissing the past and what that's contributed towards our development, and we can just see kind of a very small slice of our Squiggly Career.  And that can hold us back in quite a few different ways.  So, if you think about performance and career conversations, and I have been in conversations like this where I've both had recency bias and heard recency bias, where the conversation is entirely about what's happened in the last week or the last month versus a zoomed out view, maybe over the last year, of how things have been going and how you've been doing in your world of work.  It's sort of recency not reflecting reality.  Also, when you see yourself in a very small way, you're maybe very zoomed into a particular project versus how you're doing in your job over a number of different projects or a number of different things that you're delivering. So, I think recency bias definitely makes the impact of you I think a bit smaller, because you're just zoomed in so much, you sort of don't see the full picture, I suppose.

Sarah Ellis: I like this one, because I feel like I have a bit less of it.  I'm like, "Finally"!

Helen Tupper: Oh, I think I have this one.

Sarah Ellis: Yeah, I know you do.  So, I was like, "Finally, one that Helen has more of than I do"!

Helen Tupper: I'm not very good at this!

Sarah Ellis: Well you're so --

Helen Tupper: It's amazing, it's awful and it's like I lose perspective on it.

Sarah Ellis: Well and also it depends how present you are.  Sometimes, if you're very in the now and that's what gives you a lot of energy, which it definitely does for you, then recency is what you sort of enjoy, it's like, "What matters most today?" is your question, whereas I'm very future-oriented, I'm like, "What's going to matter most in five years?" but I think that sometimes helps me to then also reflect on the past.

Helen Tupper: Well you're reflective though genuinely, I think, you're reflective and you've got a lot of perspective, and I think I am very immediate.

Sarah Ellis: Yeah.

Helen Tupper: So, it definitely kind of plays into this bias a little bit.

Sarah Ellis: I was smug, I was like, "Finally one where I don't feel quite so bad about myself"!

Helen Tupper: "She's rubbish at recency bias!"

Sarah Ellis: So, what might help you if you are struggling a little bit more with this one?  I actually think this comes up very commonly for loads of career conversations and feedback and all those sorts of things.  So, maybe practise asking yourself some questions that do reflect on the past.  So, it's sort of pressing pause, putting your thinker hat on, even if you're a bit more of a doer, and probably slightly slowing down to speed up.  So, the sorts of questions that might be helpful could be, what do you feel most proud of this year, as long as it's not like 2 of January; who has helped you the most in your career so far; and, what moment have you learned the most from?  So, these are quite big zoomed-out questions, you're going backwards and also, it's just prompting you to really think about lots of data for your development, probably rather than one data point that you really remember.  And it's sometimes hard because we don't have very good memories.  So, sometimes it's quite hard to maybe think about these things.  But I think if you ask the right question, it does unlock some helpful answers.

Helen Tupper: Yeah, I agree, and I like these questions.  I definitely always have to look at them.  You know, "What do you feel most proud of this year?"  Immediately, I go to something that's in the last month, of course I do!  But then I actually kind of almost play back my diary in my head, and it would actually really help me to flick through my diary to answer this.  With this kind of bias, I feel like you need a bit more data.  Like, if it's just in my head, then I only have my short-term memories to play with.  So, I would need to go through my diary and almost be like, "What happened in January this year?"  And I'd be like, "Oh, I completely forgot that.  That was amazing", and that would kind of help bring it to the fore a little bit more.

Sarah Ellis: Well, we were even laughing when we were preparing I said, "Oh, who's helped you the most in your career so far Helen?"  We check that you can answer these questions.  So, what did you say?

Helen Tupper: Well, I said Sarah, but to be fair she's in a room with me right now, so I think that could just be recency bias!

Sarah Ellis: Well that's what, do you know what, that's what I thought.  I was like, "Oh, that's literally recency bias".  I was like, "I'm right here and we've spent the day together".  Whereas my head didn't go there.

Helen Tupper: What, you didn't say me?

Sarah Ellis: It wasn't my first thought.

Helen Tupper: Oh, you're so mean!  Right, everyone, that's it.  Go on, then, who was it?

Sarah Ellis: Well, I sort of went back to previous managers and some directors, some of them from quite a long time ago, where I was like, "Oh, if I hadn't worked for that person, I don't think I would be where I am today".  And there were a couple of really pivotal leaders who I feel very privileged to have spent time learning from and with, and I sort of go, "Well, those were the people that propelled me, they encouraged my ambition".  And so, you're sort of the most important person.  Don't worry, you're the most -- she's looking really upset!  You're the most important person in my career.  But have you helped me the most?  Yes, if I think about recency, but if I was thinking about the whole of my career, I'm like, "Oh, I don't know, I think you'd be level pegging with a couple of other people".

Helen Tupper: Well I'm alright with that but I also -- I'm all right with that.  No, I'm reflecting honestly, this is what this is all about!

Sarah Ellis: Okay!

Helen Tupper: But I was reflecting on if I hadn't chummed up with Sarah, then I don't think I would have got a first on my degree because Sarah helped me do some stuff.

Sarah Ellis: That is true.

Helen Tupper: That is true.  And then, I think that gave me the confidence to put myself forward for some positions at like Procter and Gamble and various things.  So actually, I think I can legitimately say, and I don't need that to be reciprocal, my love, it's fine, I can cope with a lack of reciprocity, but I'm answering honestly!

Sarah Ellis: Let's move on to the action.

Helen Tupper: Move on to the action.

Sarah Ellis: Because now I feel bad, but obviously you've got a good action.

Helen Tupper: She can sit with that badness bias.  That's not a thing, everyone, that's not a thing!  So, the action here is to keep a development diary, which can support a sort of learn-as-you-go approach.  So, rather than just remember what's in the moment, a development diary basically gives you some learning to look back on.  And I am doing that at the moment.  So, back to that community that I mentioned, the kind of entrepreneurial winning women one, we talked about affinity bias.  That programme is like a 12-month programme, I've got lots of learning moments, and what I'm doing is being very, very intentional about keeping a development diary.  So, the sort of sessions that I'm in, presentations that I see, I'm capturing it in the moment and I'm using the, "What I've learned; so, what has it made me think; and now, what am I going to do differently?"  I'm capturing that for each moment and it's really, really helpful rather than just going, "Wasn't today amazing?"  I'm able to kind of see that all of that learning with a bit more perspective because I've captured it and I'm able to look back on it. So, that's a particular programme that I'm in, but you could do this as part of a particular role that you're in.  Or you can keep a development diary for each month you're in a role or each week you're working on a project.  It just helps you zoom out a little bit and capture, like I said, capture that data, rather than just having what's in your head right now.

Sarah Ellis: And I think you don't always have to do this, but what's smart about what Helen has done for that development diary is she has sort of made that commitment to doing it and then has shared it, so sort of hold you to account a bit.  The other thing that's interesting, because I was doing a bit of research on this is, and I'm somebody who doesn't journal or write diaries, so I was like, "I'd find this action quite hard, because I don't like too much structure around my thinking".  But there is a good argument for trying to do this online in a way that is searchable. So, let's say you were like, "I want to search how many times I use the word "mistake moment" or "reflection" or whatever it might be.  There are so many really interesting tools that are designed exactly for being a development diary, though most of them kind of go slightly broader than that.  So, there's quite a few that are like wellness or habits or those kind of things.  One that I found, which I do like, is reflection.app.  And you know Holstee?

Helen Tupper: Yeah.

Sarah Ellis: It's the founders of Holstee who've done it.  So, I always liked them, I liked their brand.  And then they sort of created --

Helen Tupper: So, this is just tech for creating a development diary?

Sarah Ellis: Yeah.  Got it on my phone, see I did actually, I've actually done it.

Helen Tupper: Have you done some reflection in your diary?

Sarah Ellis: Yeah.  But also in this reflection diary thing, I wrote, look, "Development diary".  I can actually show Helen in the --

Helen Tupper: She actually showed me some stuff.

Sarah Ellis: It doesn't really work for audio, does it?  Usually we can never see each other.

Helen Tupper: You think she's pretending, but she is genuinely showing me something.

Sarah Ellis: So, they have these mini diaries from other people that you can borrow and put into your diary.  So, for example, I just picked one from someone I'd heard of, Set Your Time Free with Jenny Blake, and I'd heard of Jenny Blake for the work on Pivot.  And then it's just loads of really good coach-yourself questions, "What are your biggest strengths and energisers; what bottlenecks are getting in the way of expressing these?  Consider the Fiji test: if anyone on the team were to get whisked away for three weeks, with no access to devices or ability to give notice, could a stranger seamlessly step into the work?"  So I was like, "No".

Helen Tupper: I mean, I could everyone, she thinks she's irreplaceable.

Sarah Ellis: Oh no, not me.  It was more if I had to do all that.  I was like, "I'm by far the most replaceable.  I'm the least of anyone's worries".

Helen Tupper: This is not true!

Sarah Ellis: I think it might be quite true day-to-day though.  "What stops you from doubling what you delegate; are there areas of life or work where you delegate better than others?"

Helen Tupper: Those are nice questions.

Sarah Ellis: So, I was just like, you know when you sometimes doubt the quality, maybe if you're sceptical like me, and I was like, "How good is this really going to be?"

Helen Tupper: So, what is this called?  We'll put it in the PodSheet everybody.

Sarah Ellis: Reflection.app.  You can literally freestyle and just write your own text, and so you could just create your own development diary, and then you can sort of add in and ignore depending on how broad and how wide you want to go.  Good discovery there.

Helen Tupper: So, I think yeah, play with it.  I think I find it useful to do it around specific moments in time rather than every day, but if you want to regularly reflect a little bit more, that's those kinds of diaries, those apps sound like a really a really good tool to use.  So, just a bit of a recap then, we have talked about three biases that might hold your career development back.  We started with affinity bias, then we talked about confirmation bias and that last one we just talked about was recency bias.  We will create the summary for you in PodSheets so you get that one line on, "What is this bias; how does it hold me back; and, what can I do differently?" so that'll all be there for you to download and take action with.

Sarah Ellis: So, that's everything for this week, we hope you found that helpful.  If you ever have any ideas for topics that you'd like us to cover, or guests that you'd really like to hear from, please get in touch with us; we're helenandsarah@squigglycareers.com.  Otherwise, that's everything for this week.  As always, thank you so much for listening.  We really appreciate you rating, reviewing, subscribing.  I love seeing the little stars, but what I love even more are the reviews where you tell us what's good about the podcast, and also any even better ifs, because it keeps us really motivated and also helps us to know that we're being useful every week, not just to each other across the room talking about our biases.  So, we may or may not be together next week, depending on whether Helen forgives me or not, but that's everything for now.  See you all soon.

Helen Tupper: We'll see!  Bye everyone.