The Silent Growth Killer... Confirmation Bias

Every founder wants to scale faster, but what if the biggest barrier to growth is hiding in plain sight?

Confirmation bias — our tendency to favour information that supports our beliefs —might be shaping your marketing strategy in all the wrong ways.

In this newsletter, I’ll show you how to spot it, break free from it, and drive smarter decision making.

The real danger of confirmation bias is that it creates blind spots. It convinces us we already know what customers need, so we skip the crucial step of validating our assumptions.

This doesn’t just risk missing the mark — it reinforces false narratives and stifles innovation and progress.

A proven way to challenge this is by using frameworks like Jobs-to-Be-Done to uncover customer Jobs, Pains, and Gains. But if you’re looking for a simpler technique, the Five Whys can help you challenge internal assumptions and reveal the real motivations driving customer behaviour.

Here’s an example of the Five Whys in action:

Imagine you assume your customer’s top priority is to reduce staff time. Let’s put that through the Five Whys technique to challenge the assumption and uncover the deeper motivation:

1. Why do they want to reduce time?

   To complete tasks more efficiently.

2. Why do they need to complete tasks more efficiently?

   Because they feel overwhelmed managing multiple responsibilities.

3. Why are they overwhelmed?

   Their current tools and processes are too complex and require constant workarounds.

4. Why are their tools too complex?

   They were designed for larger teams, but this customer operates with a lean setup.

5. Why does a lean setup matter to them?

   It aligns with their goal of staying agile and minimising costs.
   

By digging deeper, we uncover that reducing time isn’t just about speed — it’s about simplicity and agility.

This insight shifts the value proposition to emphasise user-friendly tools that help lean teams stay efficient and cost-effective.

As a marketer, that’s the kind of clarity you can get by challenging assumptions.

Next time you encounter confirmation bias in your team, just ask “why” five times—and then go find out if you’re right.