Biases

The biases FLAIMS protects against

Capable people make systematic errors. This is not a matter of character, this is how cognition works, and research has catalogued the patterns for decades: in decisions, in meetings, in roadmaps. FLAIMS does not pretend they do not exist. It builds the structure so they meet resistance at the right moment.

  • 01I

    Automation Bias

    Parasuraman & Manzey, 2010

    People trust an automated answer more than the same answer from a colleague, especially under time pressure. The more confident the machine sounds, the less anyone checks.

    Impact on working life

    AI drafts ship unreviewed, dashboards are believed even though the data is broken. One's own judgement quietly withers because it is never needed any more.

    FLAIMS →

    Intelligence: AI prepares, people decide. Every use case sits in the inventory with an autonomy level, and the bias watch of the Intelligence Steward checks exactly this point. Outcome accountability stays with the Core Job, never with the model.

  • 02S

    Confirmation Bias

    Nickerson, 1998

    People preferentially seek, interpret and remember what supports their opinion, and discount what contradicts it.

    Impact on working life

    Strategy reviews become applause rounds. The warning from the second row counts as missing the big picture, and the same hiring profile fails for the third time.

    FLAIMS →

    Segmentation of Power: Governance reviews the system with figures and facts, separately from the support in L. Dissent arrives as a signal from the structure, not as an attack by a person.

  • 03F

    Status Quo Bias

    Samuelson & Zeckhauser, 1988

    Defaults win. People stay with the current tool, process or supplier even when a better option is on the table, because change feels like loss.

    Impact on working life

    Old systems survive a decade too long. 'We always did it this way' finishes off every better way of working, and migrations get postponed until they become emergencies.

    FLAIMS →

    Flow and Intelligence: every dependency has a documented exit strategy, and learning loops turn habit into a conscious decision. Whoever changes nothing decides that explicitly, not in passing.

  • 04A

    Sunk Cost Fallacy

    Arkes & Blumer, 1985

    People keep investing in a failing path because they have already invested, even when stopping would obviously be better.

    Impact on working life

    Hopeless projects get more budget instead of less. Bad hires stay too long, and an acquisition is defended years after its thesis failed.

    FLAIMS →

    Accountability: every outcome has a name, and Blame the System First separates the question 'What made this possible?' from the question 'Who did this?'. Exiting becomes a system correction, not a personal defeat.

  • 05L

    Groupthink

    Janis, 1972

    Tightly knit groups suppress dissent to protect harmony. Doubts stay in people's heads, and the unanimity in the room replaces thinking.

    Impact on working life

    The offsite ends with twelve nods and zero hard questions. The risk is named once in the corridor and never in the meeting.

    FLAIMS →

    Leadership and Segmentation of Power: FlowCoaches without assessment power hold the space in which dissent is practised, and the Gravity Decision Model shapes heavy decisions with those affected and records them. Weighting follows the stakes, not the volume.

  • 06A

    Hindsight Bias

    Fischhoff, 1975

    As soon as the outcome is known, it appears predictable in hindsight. Whoever decided is judged as if they should have known.

    Impact on working life

    Retros become blame rounds. Bold decisions are punished after the fact, and from then on nobody takes a smart risk any more.

    FLAIMS →

    Accountability: the decision log records what was known at the time of the decision, and the ex post review separates the quality of the decision from the quality of the outcome. What is reviewed is the system, never the person.

  • 07M

    Dunning-Kruger Effect

    Kruger & Dunning, 1999

    People with low competence overestimate their ability, highly competent people often underestimate theirs. The most confident are the least practised.

    Impact on working life

    Confidently wrong voices dominate, true experts get talked over. What gets promoted is the appearance, not the competence.

    FLAIMS →

    Mastery: competence belongs to the person, the level applies per competence, evidenced in the skill matrix and ratified in S. The room to decide grows with proven competence, not with self-image. Note: part of this pattern is statistically contested; FLAIMS treats it as a design risk, not a verdict on individuals.

  • 08I

    Availability Heuristic

    Tversky & Kahneman, 1973

    People judge probabilities by how easily an example comes to mind. What was recent, vivid or emotional feels more frequent than it is.

    Impact on working life

    One loud customer complaint reshapes the roadmap. One bad hire makes the next ten interviews paranoid, and last quarter's crisis becomes this quarter's strategy.

    FLAIMS →

    Intelligence and Segmentation of Power: the data anchor supplies the base rates, the authority to measure lies with S. Decisions hang on actual frequency, not on the loudest memory.

  • 09F

    Planning Fallacy

    Kahneman & Tversky, 1979

    People systematically underestimate how long something takes and what it costs, even when they have done the same task ten times before.

    Impact on working life

    Roadmaps slip by half or double. Quarterly commitments become theatre, and trust between delivery and leadership erodes deadline by deadline.

    FLAIMS →

    Flow: WIP limits and the trend signals of the Core Jobs replace wishful estimates with observed throughput. Planning works with what the crew actually delivers.

  • 10S

    Halo Effect

    Thorndike, 1920

    One positive trait, charisma, a school name, a past success, bleeds into judgements that have nothing to do with it.

    Impact on working life

    Charismatic leadership gets unchecked authority. Big brands win deals their product cannot sustain, and in recruiting, whoever looks right wins.

    FLAIMS →

    Segmentation of Power: decision rights hang on the Core Job and the competence level, never on the person. Governance reviews this coldly, with figures.

How FLAIMS responds

Structure beats willpower.

These patterns cannot be trained away, this is how human cognition works. What can be shaped is the organisation: so that a bias meets structure at the right moment, in governance, in the decision log, in the AI inventory, in the review. FLAIMS turns each bias into a checkpoint in the system rather than a personal failing.

See how it works →
Bias → FLAIMS counter-structure
  • IAutomation BiasIntelligence
  • SConfirmation BiasSegmentation
  • FStatus Quo BiasFlow
  • ASunk Cost FallacyAccountability
  • LGroupthinkLeadership
  • AHindsight BiasAccountability
  • MDunning-Kruger EffectMastery
  • IAvailability HeuristicIntelligence
  • FPlanning FallacyFlow
  • SHalo EffectSegmentation
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