#42 The Curse of Knowledge

Adding an extra dose of behavioral science to your week with our series In a Nutshell— a collection of behavioral science principles, explained in 150 words or less, written weekly by CUBIC director Allison Zelkowitz.

Do you recall your first week with Save the Children? Were you bombarded with jargon like PSS, AMS, Member, CO, RO or PR?

The initial weeks in ANY job can be confusing, in part because of the curse of knowledge, a cognitive bias in which experts – and seasoned professionals – unconsciously assume others understand a topic 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰.  As experienced colleagues, it can be hard to put ourselves in a newcomer’s place, making the information we share difficult to grasp.

 The curse of knowledge gained prominence through a clever experiment, in which participants were asked to tap out well-known songs with their fingers, and predict how many of those melodies would be recognized by listeners.  Watch this 2-minute video to see how it went!

 In our work – especially trainings and inductions – we can mitigate the curse of knowledge by applying these six principles:  simplicity, unexpectedness, concreteness, credibility, emotions, and stories.