How good are you? The Dunning Kruger Effect

Do you think you can rate your performance well?

Can you rate your listening skills? How do you rate your driving skills? What are the chance that your rating is fair? Do you know that chances are that you are not as amazing as you think. And this is stopping you from getting any better?

Introducing The Dunning Kruger Effect.

In 1995, a robber went to rob a bank with lemon juice on his face. He thought the juice would make him invisible just like it makes paper transparent. When he was caught by the police, he told them: But, I wore the juice.

He was not on drugs nor delusional.

This made researchers Dunning and Kruger develop the cognitive bias called The Dunning Kruger Effect. They showed us how poor we are at judging ourselves.

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Later many studies supported their theory. In a study, software engineers were asked to rate themselves. 42% of them rated themselves to be in the top 5%. How strange! Similarly, when American drivers were asked to rate their driving skills, 88% of them described themselves to have above average driving skills.

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Marketers, product designers, doctors, teachers and students. Whoever you are, it is likely that you experience the Dunning-Kruger Effect. This prevents you from getting any better.

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How can you overcome the Dunning Kruger effect?

- Keep Learning

- Ask for feedback

- Never stop questioning

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What can educators learn from this?

- Ask questions while you teach. Questions make children humble. 

- Give feedback to children. This keeps them in terms with reality.

- Develop metacognition - a great learning habit!

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Open Door has always believed that educators can do best when they push children to think. We design questions to make children think like never before.

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