Are your decisions truly your own?
Woah, that opening might’ve been a bit too dramatic - we didn’t mean to sound so Black Mirror.
What we’re actually asking is whether the decisions you make are always objective to the moment, or are they echoes of past experiences?
Allow us to explain.
We make hundreds of choices each day. What to have for breakfast, what to watch on TV, what excuse to use to get out of dinner with the inlaws. And these decisions are often habitual - you have cornflakes every morning because you know you like the taste, you watch The Chase because you know it’s better than Pointless, and you say that you have to work late because nobody has questioned it so far…
And the same applies to the professional world. In business, we often pride ourselves on making logical choices. But dig a little deeper, and you’ll find that many decisions are shaped not by careful analysis, but by learned behaviours - patterns we’ve absorbed over time. These habits can streamline our workflows and save mental energy, but when relied upon too heavily, they can also limit innovation and create blind spots.
Or, to use the far-fancier words of famed American psychologist, G. Stanley Hall, “man is largely a creature of habit, and many of his activities are more or less automatic reflexes from the stimuli of his environment.” That’s what we said.
But the good news is that this learned behaviour isn’t set in stone. By understanding its influence and using a simple framework to challenge it, businesses can move beyond their default settings and embrace smarter, more forward-thinking decisions.
Let’s explore how learned behaviour impacts decision-making—and how to rise above it.
What Is Learned Behaviour in Decision-Making?
Learned behaviour is the mental autopilot we switch to when faced with decisions. We don’t necessarily flick this switch consciously, either - instead, it’s triggered subconsciously by past experiences, cultural norms, and familiar routines.
Much like how Buzz Lightyear’s switch turns him into a matador maestro in Toy Story 3, flicking to this default switch shapes the way we act and react - only less latin flare, more uninformed decision making.
For example, perhaps a manager in your business sticks to hiring from the same pool of candidates because “it worked before.” Or maybe your team resists a new software platform because they’re comfortable with the spreadsheets they’ve always used.
While streamlining routine tasks and making processes predictable through this auto-piloted decision making does hold some value to businesses, these are both clear instances where this natural inclination for routine, familiarity, and risk aversion could really be costing your business.
So how do you spot it? Learned behaviour thrives on common assumptions like:
• “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”
• “This is how we’ve always done things.”
• “Why risk something new?”
So if you find this way of thinking creeping into your decision making, sound the alarms. These are the clearest red flags that you’ve become locked into patterns that might no longer serve you, and sticking to old habits in a world that’s changing fast isn’t just risky—it can leave you behind.
How Learned Behaviour Shapes Biases in Business
Ultimately, learned behaviour distorts our decision-making by feeding into our biases.
We’re all guilty of being subject to bias - it’s simply a part of human nature. But these cognitive biases can have huge impacts in subtle yet significant ways, shaping not only individual thought processes, but the wider thinking of a team or business.
Here are some of the main ones to watch out for:
- Anchoring bias: This bias occurs when we over-focus on the first or specific piece of information we receive, and then use it as the benchmark for all subsequent decisions. It can lead to blind spots in your decision making and misinformed strategies based on outdated or irrelevant data that you’ve become too attached too.
- Confirmation bias: This is the tendency to seek out information that aligns with preexisting beliefs while ignoring evidence that challenges them. It reinforces echo chambers and prevents meaningful growth or change.
- Status quo bias: Rockin’ all over the w - no, not them. Status Quo bias is the preference for maintaining the current state of affairs, even when change is clearly beneficial. It’s one of the most common cognitive roadblock because, put simply, familiarity feels safe. But it can also often stifle progress.
- Groupthink: This is when a team prioritises harmony and consensus over critical evaluation. In other words, it’s making the decision that pleases everyone. But doing this discourages individuals from voicing differing opinions, leading to a lack of perspective that drives decisions that may not be in the best interest of the business.
Biases can create significant barriers to progress and innovation. From stagnant strategies and change resistance to stifled creativity and innovation, these cognitive traps ripple across individuals, teams, and the wider business, and over time, erode your ability to adapt, compete, and thrive.
For example, we often see these patterns impacting business decisions in ways like:
- Slowing technology adoption: A company resists adopting a no-code platform despite its clear advantages because “we’ve always used spreadsheets.” Over time, these spreadsheets become a bottleneck, creating inefficiencies, errors, and wasted resources. The reluctance to embrace more efficient tools and prioritise comfort over innovation stems from their status quo bias; all while competitors gain an edge with more agile workflows.
- Ignoring key customer Insights: A design team mocks up the UI for a new app based on the design of an earlier version that proved popular five years ago. User testing suggested that now they prefer a more minimalist design, but the team champions the old data that proves users loved the old design framework. This blind dedication on old principles is a key signal of anchoring bias, and leads to a product that feels clunky and outdated compared to competitors’ offerings
- Stifling creativity and stagnating innovation: Leadership at a software company overlooks one team member’s suggestion to pivot to a subscription-based pricing model because “that’s not the way we do it”. By rejecting forward-thinking ideas, they risk the business losing ground to more adaptive competitors willing to experiment and innovate.
- Missing opportunities through risk aversion: Product teams often fall victim to groupthink when deciding which features to prioritise. For instance, a team might collectively decide against implementing a risky but innovative feature because it challenges existing norms or introduces unfamiliar technologies. While this feels safe, it can result in a product that lacks differentiation, failing to capture customer interest.
A framework to overcome learned behaviour
Alright, alright, it’s not all doom and gloom.
Remember what we said at the start: learned behaviour isn’t set in stone. And you don’t have to be Derren Brown to break it.
Think back to the film Groundhog Day, for a second. At first, Bill Murray lives on autopilot, repeating the same pattern and reacting to the same situations without any real awareness. But eventually, he realises that these behaviours are no longer useful, and only then does he break the cycle of his habits and bring about tomorrow.
In the same way, we can also find ourselves trapped in cycles of automatic decision-making that don’t serve us anymore…unless we consciously break free from those routines. And when businesses challenge learned behaviours, the results can be transformative:
- Adaptability: Teams become more responsive to new challenges and opportunities.
- Innovation: Breaking free from old patterns sparks creative problem-solving.
- Stronger alignment: Decisions are more intentional and relevant to the present moment.
Here’s a framework to help you begin challenging and reshaping learned behaviours to drive better decision making across your business - no groundhog required.
Step 1: Awareness
The first step in shifting your decision-making is to become conscious of the learned behaviours that shape your choices. We’re starting to feel a bit like Morpheus…
Start identifying the learned behaviours shaping your decisions by asking yourself and your team two questions:
- What assumptions are we making without questioning them?
- Are we sticking to old methods simply because they’re familiar?
Workshops and brainstorming sessions can help surface these hidden patterns by creating environments where teams can openly reflect, discuss, and challenge existing assumptions.
Step 2: Interrogate the Behaviour
Once you've identified your most prominent cognitive traps, it’s time to dig deeper into these behaviours by critically evaluating whether your current strategies are aligned with your business needs, or if they’ve outlived their usefulness.
Ask tough questions like:
- Is this approach still relevant today?
- What alternative options might we be overlooking?
- What risks are we taking by sticking to this behaviour?
Use tools like empathy mapping or decision trees to break down the impact of these patterns, providing structured frameworks that help you systematically examine behaviours, understand their causes, and visualise the outcomes in a way that remains sensitive and cross-functional.
Step 3: Experimentation
Rome wasn’t built in a day. Don’t run before you can walk. Blah, blah, blah - you know the score.
The key to effective experimentation is to start small—pilot new ideas in controlled environments where you can test, learn, and gather valuable insights without the pressure of full-scale rollouts. This is your chance to take calculated risks and explore new behaviours, all while minimising potential downsides.
Pilot a new process or tool with one team first, and conduct A/B tests on marketing strategies to explore new approaches without major risk. Just don’t forget to gather data and feedback along the way - this will be vital for the next step!
Step 4: Feedback and Iteration
Once you’ve tested your new approaches, the next step is to gather data, reflect, and refine your decisions.
This is where you break down what worked, what didn’t, and—perhaps most importantly—uncover whether you were unknowingly influenced by old patterns or assumptions.
Start by asking these key questions:
- What outcomes did our new behaviour generate?
- What lessons can we draw from those results?
- Did we stick to old habits, or did we adapt based on new insights?
- Did we succumb to any assumptions or biases we didn’t recognise?
Use feedback loops—whether through team retrospectives, customer insights, or performance tracking—to gather real-world data that can inform your next steps.
Once you have this information, iteration is key. You don’t need to hit the ground running with sweeping changes—this is about making incremental improvements based on what you’ve learned. Take small steps, test them, gather more feedback, and continue refining. Each cycle brings you closer to embedding more effective behaviours into your decision making processes.
Step 5: Build a Culture of Reflection
Reflection isn’t a one-and-done task—it’s something you build into your everyday work by making it a habit, not just an occasional check-in.
When done consistently, reflection becomes part of your team’s decision-making process, helping you internalise lessons, challenge assumptions, and adapt more thoughtfully over time.
Start by carving out time after major projects, launches, or milestones to create moments of pause and reflect on what worked, what didn’t, and what could be improved next time, asking questions like:
- Were our assumptions challenged?
- What new insights emerged?
Build reflection into workflows using tools like retrospectives or post-project reviews, helping to analyse decisions and surface patterns more effectively, and develop a habit that strengthens adaptive thinking and keeps your team stay agile in the face of change.
From habit to impact…
What learned behaviours are shaping your decisions today—and how can you start questioning them?
By embracing awareness, experimentation, and reflection surrounding your own learned behaviours, businesses can move beyond default settings and make decisions that are more informed - it’s not just about making a better decision, but the right decision for your business needs.