As humans, we have become quite adept at pattern recognition. It helps us with our memory, problem solving, and social interactions. It has helped us survive as a species. But as powerful and useful as it is, it is also problematic. Let’s examine how our comprehension abilities can be compromised when we lean into the allure and ease of pattern recognition.
What is Pattern Recognition?
When it comes to decision making, we use many internal tools – multiple senses, information (old and new), and our previous experience. Pattern recognition comes when we realize we’ve made the same decision before. So rather than making a new analysis, we reference our “catalog of previous decisions.” For example, we see large, flat, upright pieces of wood or steel attached to buildings as doors. Because we have used or seen them used before, we know what they are for and how they work. We open and close them to enter and exit locations. That knowledge comes from our personal knowledge base or experience, and reusing the same knowledge or experience creates the pattern.
Potential Pitfalls
This is all well and good – and extremely helpful in our everyday lives. But not everything in our life is as simple as a door. Here are five inherent problems that can come from pattern recognition.
Oversimplification
Our world is more complicated and complex than ever, and pattern recognition helps with simple stuff like doors. However, when we look at many things in our lives and work, they aren’t simple at all. Ascribing a single recognized pattern to a complex organizational (or societal) problem is likely an oversimplification.
Pro Tip: Don’t oversimplify your situation to match your mental model.
Overfitting
Locking into the pattern too quickly can cause us to mentally throw out the data that doesn’t match. Yet, the outlying data – the stuff that doesn’t fit your model or pattern – might be the most important. Overfitting can work both ways. Way may see things that aren’t there – or ignore some of what is there.
Pro Tip: Make sure to look at all the data. Don’t ignore what doesn’t fit your model or pattern.
Misinterpretation
Sometimes we look at a situation, see a pattern, and our minds light up. Pattern discovered! Just because there is a pattern doesn’t mean it is important or conclusive.
Pro Tip: Once you see a pattern, continue to think about its relevance to your situation or problem.
Confirmation Bias
As humans, we tend to seek out (and therefore find) patterns that confirm our existing beliefs. We also tend to ignore patterns that contradict those same beliefs. Confirmation bias is a major source of stereotypes, both positive and negative. This bias can cause us to let our comfortable mental patterns short circuit our critical thinking.
Pro Tip: When the patterns all seem to align with your beliefs, keep looking for what you are missing.
Faulty Decision Making
Each of the situations I’ve outlined here leads us to potentially serious problems. You could mistake a large, flat, upright piece of wood or steel for a door when it’s not. That problem is temporary, visceral, and obvious. But the decision-making mistakes caused by overreliance on patterns aren’t always obvious.
Pro Tip: Use your power of pattern recognition as an input, but not the ultimate and sole source of the decisions you make.
A Specific Leadership Example
I could give you several, but here is a simple one. You have decided, through experience or an assessment, that you have a certain style as a leader. That simple statement or model can cause every one of the pattern recognition problems I mentioned.
The style designation itself is an oversimplification of you. But once you understand and believe it, it will influence everything you do, think about, and observe. Can an understanding of a style be helpful? Of course. But not when it leads you to oversimplify, overfit, or misinterpret a situation. Not when it confirms your bias in unhelpful ways or keeps you from making the best possible decisions.
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