Cognitive biases

Attribution Analysis for a Recent Success and Failure

Challenges self-serving bias by having a client examine their role in both a positive and negative.

Some clients present with a pattern of ownership that is skewed. They can easily articulate their role in a recent win, but when discussing a recent setback, responsibility is placed on colleagues, bad luck, or unfair conditions. This can make conversations about personal growth feel stalled or unproductive, as the client views their difficulties as things that simply happen to them.

This directive prompts the client to apply the same lens of analysis to a success and a failure, side-by-side. The process bypasses reflexive explanations and guides them toward a more consistent and realistic view of their own influence on outcomes. The client walks away with a clearer understanding of their agency in both their achievements and their disappointments.

Attribution Analysis for a Recent Success and Failure

Select one recent event you consider a success and one you consider a failure. A success is an outcome that met or exceeded your expectations. A failure is an outcome that fell short of them.

Use the grid below to analyze what caused each event. For both the success and the failure, identify the specific factors that contributed to the result. List what you did or decided, what others did or what the situation required, and what was simply luck or circumstance. Be as factual as possible.

EventMy Actions & DecisionsExternal Influences (People, Environment)Random or Unpredictable Factors
Success:
Failure:

Generated with Rapport7 — rapport7.com

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