As a mother of two, I learnt very fast, that my role as a referee was far more important than any other role. From simple things like making beds, to cleaning up rooms – every job needs to be divided up equally. As all parents, I would have presumed that I was being fair always – but unfortunately my daughters don’t think so.
Individually when asked , how often they end up doing the house errands to help out their mother – daughter #1 said she contributed to more then 75% of the work and daughter #2 said she contributed to more than 80% – that added up to an astronomical 155% of the work – in which case I would have been just resting ( which is never the case)
All of us from a very young age , over-estimate our role. We tend to think that we contribute much more than we actually do and we also think that we have achieved much more in the past than we actually have.
To investigate this bias, researchers put together a personality test and allocated the participants good or low scores at random. Those who scored high , found the test fair and the low scorers found the test – useless.
If things go well – its my skill; if things don’t go well – it is God’s will.
This self serving bias – is also  the biggest obstacle when we conduct our assessments, training & coaching programs.If the assessments turn out to be good – participants are satisfied but if not – then no guesses on who gets the boot.
And that is where – our assessors play a key role. To get people to accept the feedback without dodging is a challenge for our team. Our experienced facilitators know how to overcome this barrier by linking work, assessment evidence and personal life.
Is your team playing into “self serving bias” every day ? It’s time to show them the true mirror – for their growth , for the growth of your business. 
We conduct game based assessments, psychometric tests and assessment centres. Do call me to understand how we can add value to your team or write into me – smita@ableventures.in