Fighting off the Recency Bias: Year-End Performance Reviews

 

Do you have an inclination to form judgments only on “current” observations?

Do more recent achievements, incidents, or even frustrations form the basis of your overall opinions, despite more impactful or significant events happening in the past that are forgotten or neglected? 

This is what psychologists call the “Recency Bias” - it’s the tendency to over-emphasize the importance of recent experiences or the latest information we possess when estimating future events.

In other words, when it comes to forming an opinion towards something, our human tendency is to take the most recent events to shape our overall judgment. 

Just because it’s fresh of the oven and occupies a large space in our current state of mind, we have a tendency to think that this is a good representation of the “big picture” - whilst forgetting that we are fundamentally flawed creatures who forget a lot, and therefore most likely have forgotten many other important events of the past. 

The danger: Subconsciously, we think that because we have “forgotten” about it, perhaps it’s not as important or significant.

This is particularly dangerous when it comes to this time of the year for working professionals: Year end performance reviews. 

What should we do? Here are five steps I personally adopt to counter the recency bias: 

1. Be Aware of it. We need to overcome our own personal biases, whilst at the same time, take more pre-emptive steps to produce a more wholesome and holistic year end report, recognizing that other people - leaders, managers and subordinates alike - have this tendency, too. 

2. Get a holistic picture & Retrace your history. Dig up archives, emails, documents. Do your research to make sure you get the facts right, without neglecting the great (and not-so-great) stuff that happened in Q1 and Q2. 

3. Don’t get blindsided by recent events - The running gag among managers is that October is “year end sale” - the time of the year where WhatsApp channels are exploding with messages of achievements. On one hand, we need to be objective about achievements and give credit where it’s due - on the other hand, we need to make sure we don’t allow ourselves to form a judgment from a limited perspective. 

4. Get into the practice of journalling - Making references to the book, “Building a Second Brain”: Every time there is something worthy of being highlighted, write it down. Use simple, cloud-based digital apps that can help us quickly store and retrieve info such as OneNote or Notion. Also, what I found was that focused recognition was incredibly helpful: If you’ve archived them well, just look that up! 

5. Seek feedback from others. As human beings, our judgment will always be limited. We need third party perspectives to help us see our blindsides. 

Hope that helps! 

Do you - or others around you - experience the Recency Bias? How do you overcome them?

Majlis Tilawah Al-Qur'an Peringkat PETRONAS 2023: "Al-Qur'an Asas Kelestarian" | 25-26 Oktober, INSTEP, Terengganu

 

"Kalau tak dapat Naib Johan pun, Johan pun jadi lah"

Demikian lah kata-kata semangat "reverse psychology" yang saya selalu ucapkan kepada sahabat2 saya yang turut serta dalam MTAQ. 

Plot twist: Tahun ni, dua2 saya tak dapat 🤣

Alhamdulillah, tahun ni bagi kategori Murattal, saya dapat meraih tempat ke-3 🥉. Persaingan tahun ni amat sengit.. Saya ingat saya dah beri yang terbaik dan minimize kesilapan dah, siap habis pidato sebelum buzzer. Tapi tewas juga dengan dua peserta hebat.. Saudara Hazwan (Zon Tengah, KL) dan Firdaus (Zon Pantai Timur), Masha Allah, terbaik.. allahumma barik. Semoga tetap terus istiqamah dalam Al-Qur'an. 

Alhamdulillah saya ucapkan ribuan Terima kasih kepada sahabat se-kontinjen saya dari Zon Sarawak atas sokongan, dan saya bagi focused recognition kepada tuan Rumah INSTEP atas hospitality mereka. Mantap, sangat terurus, dan banyak effort extra mereka buat untuk tetamu.. Sediakan bas dan jadual untuk jalan2 tour local attraction, hidangkan makanan local yang lazat, termasuklah ICT. 

Saya pun baru belajar istilah baru ni.. ICT. 

Amende ICT? 

La, Ikan (goreng) Celup Tepung Rupa2nya 🤣😋

Note to organizers. Ada baiknya juga venue MTAQ di INSTEP ni Jauh dari hotel penginapan peserta (Paya Bunga Hotel di Kuala Tganu) di tempat yg tak byk sgt servis E-hailing.

Biasanya kalau venue MTAQ sama tempat dengan tempat penginapan, selalunya peserta ada tendency buat hal masing2 n tak layan sangat majlis lain. Datang untuk giliran, baca, ciao.   

Jadi utk MTAQ tahun ni, peserta terpaksa ikut jadual bas, dan "terpaksa" turut serta stay kat majlis sepenuhnya, sampai habis. In a way, mcm kurang convenient. Tapi result majlis: Ramai quorum, Meriah la jadinye. Well played 😁. Kita pun seronok dpt berkenalan dan networking dengan sahabat2 baru.. Mengambil inspirasi dari Sahabat2 lain yang hebat2 dalam kompetensi Al-Qur'an, dan yang cemerlang mendidik anak2 mereka dalam Qur'an.

Tahniah & Syabas kepada semua pemenang, terutama sekali kepada sahabat2 saya saudara Awang, juga kepada bapaw hebat, Syahnaz, Adzmin, dan Madzalan atas kejayaan anak2 mereka dalam kategori Hafazan ❤️. Allahumma barik. Semoga kita semua sentiasa istiqamah dalam Kitab Allah dalam mempelajarinya, menghafalnya, mengamalnya, dan mengajarkannya.  

Jumpa lagi tahun depan insha Allah. Bapak2 pun, join skali jom. Kalau tak dapat tempat ketiga, dapat Johan pun jadi la.. 🤲🏼

"In Search of Excellence: My Story" with Ir. Abd Rahim Bahruddin

Alhamdulillah great learning session in today's leader career sharing from Ir. Abdul Rahim Baharuddin, TP Custodian Engineer for Construction, from PD&T Division PETRONAS. Here are some interesting takeaway points I got from the session:

1. Growth mindset: Consistency is the Key 

Clearly, Ir. Abdul Rahim has an amazing list of credentials and professional certifications under his belt. But his credentials and achievements were all gradual, spanning years, even decades. They were not in one shot. What we can learn from this is that we all have what it takes to keep growing. The key is to take ownership of our own development and keep moving forward, step by step. Certification by certification. The sky is the limit, if we put our hearts and minds to it with consistency!

2. The top 3 skills of "highest importance" for engineers to survive and thrive: Communication skills, creativity, and design thinking.

I like that he confessed that this skill of communication was totally outside of his comfort zone. Especially those of us who tend to be more shy and introvert, communication isn't something that comes naturally; nor is it something that is systematically taught in typical university degree programs. We need to put in a deliberate effort to improve it!

He shared that one of the biggest priority as a new manager was communication: How to put ideas into a solid management plan (e.g. Project Execution Plan or PEP). How we can shift emotional thinking into priority, and specify business needs to fulfilling management objectives, and seeking feedback from key stakeholders to align expectations with them - focus on how our idea aligns with governance / project objective

3. My favorite takeaway: The Mental Model

Ir. Abd Rahim reads and learns a lot, and as he rightfully pointed out something which I can totally relate with: as we keep reading books, attending courses, and learning from different sources, it can be disorienting. So many methods, so many techniques, so many acronyms... which one to use? How and when to apply them?

What he did personally, and shared with us was something kinda cool: arranging them, and compartmentalizing the areas of knowledge into a mental model to reconcile all these pieces of knowledge and how they are inter-related, to make sense of it in terms of application in daily life. His approach was by anchoring them in Steven Covey's 7 Habits, funneling them into how this yields positive results.

It was a unique approach on personal knowledge management. While we may not have read as much as he did, we can use that same line of thinking to organize our areas of knowledge, so we can make them practical without getting lost or disoriented in this era of information overload!

✊🏼 Have the Courage to be disliked, and stand up for what you believe in

 

My management coach once shared some powerful advice as a "heads up":

“Throughout your career, you will find people around you who will disappoint you, and continue to disappoint or oppose you. You will not have 100% bosses supporting you - some of them might not even like your guts.

And that’s okay.
You are not here to build a fan club. You are not here to please everyone.

Stand up for who you are. As long as your intentions are clear, you know it’s value adding, and you are doing the right thing, continue doing what you do.“

Amazing & timely advice! We are not here to be people pleasers. Don’t just be a yes-man, copy-paste what others do and blindly conform. Have the spine to determine what is right from wrong, and stand up for your own principles and values.

This immediately reminds me of something said by Prophet Muhammad ﷺ:

لاَ تَكُونُوا إِمَّعَةً تَقُولُونَ إِنْ أَحْسَنَ النَّاسُ أَحْسَنَّا وَإِنْ ظَلَمُوا ظَلَمْنَا وَلَكِنْ وَطِّنُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ إِنْ أَحْسَنَ النَّاسُ أَنْ تُحْسِنُوا وَإِنْ أَسَاءُوا فَلاَ تَظْلِمُوا

“Do not be a “yes-man” imitator, without a will of your own. Just like those who say “if people behave well, then we too, will behave well. And if they oppress, we too will (follow the flow, and) oppress others.”
Rather, accustom yourselves to do good if people do good, but if they commit sins, you refrain from committing oppression”
(At-Tirmidzi #2007)

The Prophet ﷺ also said:

طوبى لِلغُرباءِ، فقيل: مَن الغُرباءُ يا رسولَ اللهِ؟ قال: أُناسٌ صالحونَ في أُناسِ سُوءٍ كثيرٍ، مَن يَعصيهم أكثرُ مِمَّن يُطيعُهم.

"Glad tidings for the strangers: A people who rectify (themselves and others), whilst they are amidst (the majority of) people who are involved in much evil! Those who disobey them are greater in number than those who obey them."

(Ahmad, At-Tabarani & Al-Bayhaqi)

In many situations in life, and especially at the workplace, sometimes, being a person of integrity and principles will put us at a disadvantage. Sometimes, it’s much easier to keep quiet and stay in mediocrity, rather than be the one who steps up and attempts to “challenge the norms” and achieve genuine greatness.

People will be people, and there will always be people who prefer what’s convenient, easy, or comfortable. Don’t compromise to fit in, and sink in the quicksand.

Remind ourselves that if we stand up for our religious principles, God Himself will help us:

مَنِ الْتَمَسَ رِضَاءَ اللَّهِ بِسَخَطِ النَّاسِ كَفَاهُ اللَّهُ مُؤْنَةَ النَّاسِ وَمَنِ الْتَمَسَ رِضَاءَ النَّاسِ بِسَخَطِ اللَّهِ وَكَلَهُ اللَّهُ إِلَى النَّاسِ

“Whoever seeks the pleasure of Allah by incurring the anger of the people, Allah will suffice him from the people.
And who ever seeks the people's pleasure by obtaining the wrath of Allah, Allah will leave him to the people (i.e. without His Help).'"
(At-Tirmidzi)

Be a person of integrity and virtue, and have the courage to be disliked.

🔊 Tatkala Ustaz kena "sound" dengan driver bas - Isilah masa lapang anda dengan Zikir 🗣️

Ustaz kami pernah berkongsi pengalamannya, ketika beliau membimbing jemaah menunaikan umrah. Semasa membawa jemaahnya ke pasar kurma, beliau menunggu  atas bas, lepak2 & termenung.

Driver bas memandangnya, kelihatan tak puas hati. Dengan muka annoyed, dia tanya dengan isyarat tangan dan mulutnya, "weh, ape kau buat?!"

Ustaz confuse. Apahal? Aku buat salah ke? 

Dengan isyarat, dia "sound" ustaz - Cubalah kau Zikir sikit, SubhanAllah ke, Selawat ke. Ni amende, duduk lepak termenung je! 

Wow. Mengenangkan kisah ni, Ustadz cakap, "Kita ustaz bawak jemaah pegi umrah, boleh kena sound dengan drebar"🤣

Abang driver kita mengingatkan kita untuk sentiasa mengisi masa lapang dengan berzikir kepada Allah. Banyak je waktu "menunggu" dalam aktiviti harian kita yang ada peluang berzikir. Waktu tunggu naik flight, tunggu lift, Otw pegi kerja, naik lif, tunggu order makanan sampai.

Tunggu, tunggu, tunggu.. 

Time macam ni, biasa kita buat apa? Bukak IG? Layan tiktok? Scroll group WhatsApp berkali2? Termenung layan jiwang? 

Daripada duduk habiskan masa Doomscrolling di media sosial atau usha2 orang, baik kita berzikir. Rasulullah ﷺ bersabda, 

لَيْسَ يَتَحَسَّرُ أَهْلُ الْجَنَّةِ إِلَّا عَلَى سَاعَةٍ مَرَّتْ بِهِمْ لَمْ يَذْكُرُوا اللهَ فِيهَا

"Ahli syurga langsung tidak akan rasa penyesalan, kecuali detik2 masa yang telah berlalu di mana mereka tidak berzikir kepada Allah" 

(al-Mu’jam al-Kabīr lil-Ṭabarānī 182, dinilai hasan oleh as-Suyuti) 

Gunalah waktu yang ada - berzikirlah sebagai pelaburan anda untuk akhirat. 

وَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا لَّعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ

"Maka berzikirlahlah kepada Allah banyak-banyak, agar kamu peroleh kejayaan" 

(Al-Jumuah, 9)

Antara pengajaran sampingan juga adalah pentingnya kita membuka hati dan tabahkan jiwa untuk Terima teguran dgn baik, tak kira dari siapa. 

Driver ni juga meningkatkan kita tentang keberkatan dakwah. Dia tegur Ustaz, Ustaz pula sampaikan kepada kami (walaupun agak "memalukan"), & dapat saya kongsikan dengan anda. Dan saya berharap, kalau peringatan ini bermanfaat, anda juga akan terus share. BarakAllah fikum

Majlis Tilawah Al-Quran PETRONAS Peringkat Wilayah Sarawak 2023M / 1445H - Kuching, 6-7 Oktober 2023

 

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي بِنِعْمَتِهِ تَتِمُّ الصَّالِحَاتُ

Alhamdulillah, segala puji dan syukur kepada Allah yang telah menyempurnakan segala nikmat-Nya dan segala kebaikan.

Dengan izin-Nya, dapat peroleh keputusan yang baik pada MTAQ PETRONAS di Sarawak.. buat kali pertama, berjaya peroleh Johan untuk dua kategori, Murattal dan Hafazan Dewasa.

Alhamdulillah, Ibu juga menang Johan bagi kategori Hafazan  perempuan. Allahumma barik.

Tahniah juga kepada saudara Syahnaz dan isteri atas kejayaan kedua-dua anak mereka, Muhammad dan Khadijah, memenangi kategori Hafazan Kanak-kanak, dan akan turut serta mewakili kontinjen Sarawak bagi peringkat Kebangsaan di INSTEP, Terangganu pada 25-26 Oktober ini, insha Allah. 

All the best, dan semoga Allah menjadikan kita istiqamah dengan Al-Qur'an!

Leading Forward: Conversations with Nooruddin on Leadership 03/10/23

 

“If you lived during the time of Moses, would you most likely be a follower of Moses or Firaun?”

This - and many other points - were powerful insights and wisdoms shared in today’s sharing session with Nooruddin Abdullah, VP Group Strategic Relations & Communications.

Here are some awesome (sometimes hillarious) takeaways

💖Prioritize your health, and your family. Company will come and go - but family can never be replaced. “Kita ni takde la hebat sangat. Without you, PETRONAS akan jalan jugak. Tak payah perasan lah”

💸“Live within your means. Kalau you hanya mampu beli Ferrari, jangan beli helicopter”

💩🍽️ 🙊 A reminder on integrity: Would you want to serve a piece of “crap”  to your chilren? "Just a small piece, no harm right?" That’s what you do when you take bribes and “provide” for your family. You are essentially feeding them with filth.

🤝 Live with integrity. It gives you peace of mind. Siapa yang tak mencuri, takkan risau kena potong tangan. Those who have no integrity issues, you get to live with a clear conscience, without the fear of "getting caught".

⏳ Think Long Term, Play the Long Game

When asked about his greatest challenges/achievements throughout his career, he once shared  an experience at a country in Africa. Initially, the contract stated the government would not be charging any additional expenses to PETRONAS. However, after seeing production, the government got a bit… greedy. The President wanted to impose a form of a fee or tax, costing tens of mlilions of US dollars, violating the contractual agreement.

The team got together, and the decision was almost unanimous: Fight. Defend our rights. We have all the legal documents in our favor. It was obvious.

But Nooruddin saw it differently. If we fight, yes, we might win. But this will be a case of Fight & Flight: We save millions of dollars, but we burn the bridges. We will never be able to operate here again. But let’s look long term: if we stay the course, is it still worth it? What if we pay up these millions, once off - and reap the collaborative benefits, in the long run?

The president agreed with this unconventional decision. They took a calculated risk: "Lose the Battle, win the war" .

Years later, in hindsight, it was a decision that resulted in a Net Investment Position (NIP) of billions of dollars.

(Mic Drop)

✨And finally, my favourite takeaway:
“If you lived during the time of Moses, would you most likely be a follower of Moses or Firaun?”

When he asked that, the hall remained silent. And someone spoke up and said “Firaun”.

He said, “yes. The reality is, if we were alive in those days, we would have most likely followed the tyrant Firaun.”

On the surface: Firaun had it all: military might. Economic strength. A total system in government. Some of the greatest monuments and structures ever built in the history of mankind.

Compare that to Moses. This man with no army. No political, economic, or military strength. Just a stick, an ideology, a mindset, and immense determination. An ideology that, if exposed by Firaun, would have been punishable by a horrible death through crucifixion. This man would have had, at most, probably a handful of followers.

Yet fast forward today. Thousands of years later. People name their children after this man: Moses, Musa. From Muslims, to Christians, to Jews, even aethists.

But no one names their children "Fir'aun".

Stories in the Quran are for us to ponder and take lessons from. The lesson of Moses teaches us, the real human asset is the human capital. The real substance. What every leader needs to have. 

At the end of the day, what truly matters? How will YOU want to be remembered?