Self-Attribution Bias is the tendency of many people to credit themselves with their successes and to blame outside influences for their failures.
This term is most frequently found in relation to investing.
When you buy a stock, its value increases, and you sell it for a profit, that’s because you’re a shrewd investor.
But when you buy a stock that goes straight to zero, it’s due to “market conditions” or “economic shifts.”
Radio is filled with program directors who attribute a good ratings book to their own extraordinary programming prowess, leadership abilities, and uncanny knack for staying three steps ahead of the competition.
For those PDs, their good ratings never are partly the result of a slew of great new songs in their format, weak performances by the competition…or, thanks to consolidation, no real format competition at all.
But when the station’s ratings drop, it’s because Management didn’t give Programming a large enough marketing budget or — one of my favorites — it’s a ratings “wobble.” (Funny how they never interpret their successes as statistical anomalies.)
One Antidote To Self-Attribution Bias
When your station does well, give all the credit — publicly and enthusiastically — to your staff.
When your ratings drop, shoulder the blame.
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My career is just ending or, in hiatus, due to some health issues, but that’s the way I always rolled. In our weekly programming meetings, I named names and pointed out good things done or good ideas brought to me. THAT’S how it’s done. Build success on building the team. I preached to my guys “Take care of me and I swear, I got your back.”
That a good philosophy for any team, yet far too often it’s not the way people think. Be it ego, or just the way an individual thinks. You have to look at all possible angles of why something happened the way it did, and not fall into the crutch explanation. Always salute those you work with when it’s appropriate.
I call it the WE won, THEY lost syndrome.
Ever notice that many sports fans utilize pronouns differently depending on how their team performs?
I call it the WE won, THEY lost syndrome.
I’ve seen far too many managers do this with their own performance.
I’ve actually reversed it. If we do well, it’s a TEAM success. Failures belong to me alone. I have to figure out what went wrong and fix it.
That’s my job.
maybe that’s why i’m not a sports fan?