Let's Not Anchor Our Decisions

Sir Roger Tichborne spent several days and nights sailing around the South Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Brazil as he awaited passage to Jamaica in 1854. Tichborne was without a passport and needed to get back to France to see his mother, Lady Tichborne.

Finally, he was granted a spot on the Bella ship, which set sail for Jamaica in April of that year. But just days after leaving Rio de Janeiro, the wrecked boat was discovered off the Brazilian coast with no personnel. Bella had apparently encountered rough seas and capsized. Lady Tichborne was shocked and devastated upon receiving the news. But she never gave up hope that her son was alive. In fact, an Australian ship had picked up passengers of the Bella and had transported them to Australia.

Lady Tichborne decided to be proactive. She placed advertisements in newspapers all over the world, offering a handsome reward for knowledge of her son’s whereabouts. Twelve years later, she was contacted by an attorney in Australia who confirmed that Roger Tichborne was, in fact, alive and well with an entire family. Sir Roger ultimately arrived in England, and he was received by Lady Tichborne.

Or so it seemed.

Many in the family were skeptical that Sir Roger was the real Sir Roger. The new Roger had different color eyes, no tattoos, was shorter in height and had gained significant weight. All the evidence suggested that this man who’d arrived from Australia with his family was not the real Sir Roger but an imposter. Still, Lady Tichborne refused to believe it. Only after her death did the family prove that she had been clinging to false hope.

Why do we as leaders sometimes ignore undeniable facts? Why do we overlook valuable information and believe something is right even when the facts say otherwise?

We have a significant tendency to “trust our gut instincts” since our instincts have never let us down. But next time we feel as though we’re relying on our instincts, let’s do the following:

1. Acknowledge our bias. Face the fact that we are ignoring facts and choosing to instead believe in our memory or gut instincts. Research has proven our memories often are not as reliable as we might believe.

2. Delay any decision. Take more time to review all the information and walk away. Clear your head and wait.

3. Drop another anchor. Take the position against what you believe and write down three reasons why your new position is right.

Now, we all know Lady Tichborne wanted to believe the news her son was not dead, so any information presented before her would have been overlooked. She is an extreme case.

However, had she followed these three steps, she may have avoided looking foolish. Next time your gut tells you it’s right when all the evidence says it’s not, let’s remind ourselves of Lady Tichborne.

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