The concept of Reactive Devaluation was brought to light by psychologists Lee Ross and Constance Stillinger in their 1991 paper, “Barriers to Conflict Resolution.”
In their paper, they described a sidewalk survey they did on a proposal for arms reduction by the United States and the Soviet Union.
The results revealed that Americans rated the same proposal more favorably when attributed to the American President Ronald Reagan, less favorably when presented by a neutral party, and significantly lower when associated with President Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union.
This concept goes well beyond geo politics, though. It can directly affect software teams with a strong culture of in and out groups.
We see this often on software teams where we are quick to dismiss a suggestion by someone on the product team or a stakeholder as invalid or uninformed.
We can often overcome this bias by building strong ties across teams and providing a shared vision for the entire team to work towards.
A great way to do this is by having regular 1:1s with key cross-functional team members to build strong relationships and rapport. If we do this, the hard conversations later will become easier.
Building strong ties within the team can be a great thing, but be careful of creating a strong in-group that still dismisses views and suggestions from outside the larger team as invalid.
🎯 Here are some key takeaways:
Pause and reflect
Before rejecting an idea, take a minute to consider if the source is influencing our judgment. A quick pause for reflection can help us make more rational decisions.
Establish objective evaluation guidelines
Having a structured, objective way to evaluate proposals can help counter this bias. It ensures that ideas are judged on their merits, not their origin.
Focus on shared interests
Promote identifying common goals or north stars to shift the focus away from adversarial positions and foster cooperation across teams.
Foster empathy and understanding
Work to build a culture that encourages employees in conflict to understand each other's perspectives and build rapport, reducing animosity.
Consider bringing in a neutral party
For contentious topics, consider involving a neutral third party to offer an unbiased evaluation, which can help break the cycle of devaluation.
📚 Keep exploring
To dive deeper into the topic of Reactive Devaluation and its implications for decision-making, check out these resources:
