THE OPINION-ITIS PANDEMIC... (AKA THE DUNNING-KRUGER EFFECT)
You do not need to know much about sport to know that when a team has won 27 out of 29 games in a tightly contested world class competition (The English Premier League) and sits 25 points above their nearest rival, their leadership is very good.
So it is with the Liverpool Football Club, and their Manager, Jurgen Klopp. But does this managerial mastery translate to matters beyond the world of football? On 4 March this year, at a press conference to discuss his team’s performance, Jurgen Klopp was asked his views about the coronavirus. His (edited) response?
What I don’t like in life is that for a very serious thing, a football manager’s opinion is important. I really don’t understand it… People with knowledge should talk about it… and tell people [what to do and not do]. Not football managers… My opinion about coronavirus is not important…
Sadly, Klopp’s response seems to often be the exception rather than the rule, particularly in our COVID-19 world. Increasingly, opinions are being offered every minute by those desperate or needy enough to be seen or recognised as an ‘instant expert’ or ‘authority’ on a subject. It’s not that such behaviour didn’t exist beforehand - it’s just that the available platforms have exploded in size and availability.
The opinion-itis trend seems to be consistent with the (rather familiar) diagram above..
What is behind this behaviour?
One possible explanation is provided by psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger (known as the Dunning-Kruger effect) whereby opinion-itis sufferers operate under a cognitive bias of illusory superiority in the subject matter of their opinion – not only are they actually incompetent in that subject area, they are unable to recognize their own incompetence.
As the illustration shows, opinion-itis symptoms involve quickly racing to the peak of Mt Stupid for their ‘opinion-selfie’, confident in the knowledge of its value and usually oblivious of the need to go further. For those that have some semblance of self-awareness that there may be life beyond their opinion, many are terrified about the risk of public humiliation in taking the next steps and sliding down the slope of ‘not knowing’ into the Valley of Despair. Nor would they be able to commit the time and effort involved to actually learn – far simpler and easier to offer a world view from the mountain top..
Another possible explanation for opinion-itis can be found in Roger Schwarz’ book The Skilled Facilitator[1], which suggests that such behaviour can in part be based on the way we are brought up and taught in schools, universities and our workplaces to ‘be right’, not seek the views of others and control conversations. This style of behaviour is categorised as a unilateral control approach and involves the following values, assumptions and behaviours:
Values: be right; win, don’t lose; act ‘rational’
Assumptions: I understand the situation, I am right, I have pure motives, I am not contributing to the problem, those who disagree with me are wrong and have questionable motives
Behaviours: stating your views & not asking for other’s views, focusing on positions and not interests, withholding relevant information, acting on untested assumptions as if they were true, controlling the conversation, avoiding or saving face on difficult issues.
Who is likely to be affected by opinion-itis or Dunning-Kruger-itis? Unfortunately, almost everyone. Worse, it can be recurring or permanent.. You don’t need to be a shock jock, politician or media personality – all that is required is a level of ostensible or actual authority (as a parent, teacher, leader or manager), or even just a sense that you are right or have ‘the answer’ about something and are not prepared to really listen to others.
What are the societal effects/costs of opinion-itis? Roger Schwarz suggests that in relation to teams and organisations, the negative effects include:
Performance: lower quality decisions; less innovation; longer implementation time; increased costs
Working relationships: lower commitment; decreased trust; reduced learning; greater defensiveness; unproductive conflict; inappropriate dependence on others
Individual satisfaction: reduced motivation; limited development opportunities; increased stress.
So how can we prevent or build up our immunity to opinion-itis?
First, try to be more Klopp-like, and develop self-awareness of what you know and have some experience of, and can offer an informed view about, compared with what you dont - the rest of the information universe. It’s not about withdrawing from the conversation – it’s about avoiding the pretence that you have all the answers. This will also tend to move you beyond the ‘valley of despair’ on the Dunning-Kruger curve and onto the ‘slope of enlightenment’.
A second and similar treatment option is that suggested by Roger Schwarz, which involves a mutual learning approach comprising a more inclusive set of values, assumptions and behaviours:
Values: compassion: transparency, curiosity, informed choice and accountability
Assumptions: I have information and so do others; each of us sees things others don’t; people may disagree with me and still have pure motives; differences are opportunities for learning; I may be contributing to the problem
Behaviours: stating views and asking genuine questions; sharing all relevant information; explaining reasoning and intent; focusing on interests, not positions; testing assumptions and inferences;, discussing undiscussable issues.
The benefits of liberally applying the mutual learning approach include:
Performance: higher quality decisions, greater innovation, shorter implementation time, reduced costs
Working relationships: greater commitment, increased trust, increased learning, reduced defensiveness, productive conflict, appropriate dependence on others
Individual well-being: increased motivation, increased satisfaction, richer development opportunities, reduced stress
Better relationships with the wider world: your curiosity about it, your openness to difference, your ability to trust and your compassion for others.
So in these highly claustrophobic times, remember that ‘self-isolating’ doesn’t need to extend to your thought processes and intellectual engagement with others..
ere to edit.