Experts: biased but still useful

This episode accompanies Module 4 of the course, which is all about assessing the quality and reliability of the evidence from practitioners – people who have experience with the problem we are tackling, or the solutions we are considering. 

Modules 4 and 3 are difficult to separate fully, so please refer to episode 3 of the podcast for the rest of the discussion about practitioners. In this episode we discuss the impact of the most important biases and talk about how to be alert to our own biases and those of others. 

We consider the role of the evidence based practitioner and the challenges of getting a clear understanding of problems and solutions from practitioners who may not always be as clear or succinct as we might wish. This is where careful listening and questioning are absolutely critical, together with challenging assumptions - both our own and other people's. 

Finally we discuss the 3 criteria used to assess the reliability and trustworthiness of practitioners and experts, including consultants that seek to identify themselves as experts with particular problems and solutions. 

Host: Karen Plum

Guests

• Eric Barends, Managing Director, Center for Evidence-Based Management 
• Rob Briner, Professor of Organizational Psychology, Queen Mary University of London
• Dr Christina Rader, Associate Professor with Tenure, Department of Economics and Business at Colorado College 

Find out more about the course here:   https://cebma.org/resources-and-tools/course-modules/