The Boss can't always be right

Ever since we humans have formed societies, we've been used to following a set of rules. We aren't expected to challenge these rules. They are meant to save societies from becoming unstable. If that's the case, then it's better not to challenge these sets of rules. After all, in most cases, they have stood the test of time.  However, set of rules don't mean much if there isn't anybody to make them work in the real world. This enforcement is made by mortal humans like you and I. These mortals may be CEOs of a company; the head of an institution; or even your immediate boss in the line of organisational command. 'The boss is right' is today's way of saying what we humans have been forced to do since the beginning of history. Unfortunately, nothing in life remains constant for too long. Changing situations demand challenging authority once in a while. In fact, there are problems in following authority with blindness.
It isn't always the case that people in authority make more clear decisions than others. Remember the financial crisis in 2008 when a bubble went burst? There are more than one million trained economists and financial analysts on this planet. Quite a few of them are from top ranked universities and other leading financial institutions. Every day these specialists churn out one prediction after another. They advise their nations and institutions on how and what to do. In spite of so many soothsayers, with the exception of Nouriel Roubini and Nassim Taleb, nobody could correctly predict the timing of the financial crisis in 2008. Never has such a group of experts collectively failed in showing their prowess of thinking more clearly than others.
The psychologist Stanley Milgram did an experiment in 1961. A professor asked his subjects to give an electric shock to a patient. The shocks started from a mild 15 volts. They proceeded to 30V, 45V and so on. The final dosage was a maximum of 450V. This would mean certain death to the patient. As the level of the shock started to rise, the patient started to shout louder and louder. The professor was cool as a cucumber. As each administer watched the patient shout, the professor said, “The experiment depends on your participation. Carry on.” As the level of the shocks started to become lethal, the majority of the experimenters kept on electrocuting the patient at the order of the authoritarian professor. More than half of the administers went all the way to the 450V shock because they didn't have the courage to challenge the authority of the professor who probably knew better.
The above experiment, like many psychological experiments, wasn't for real. The man who was taking the shocks was an actor. The administers weren't giving real electric shocks. Stanley Milgram demonstrated how our ability to think clearly is affected when we confront authority. Like the dark spots of the Sun, our thinking also has dark spots. The ability to think clearly is eclipsed by these blind spots, which are known as a bias in psychology. Milgram named this psychological bias as the 'Authority Bias'.
The problem arises when these authoritative figures become larger than life. Even worse, they also think they are larger than life. We either don't think they can make a mistake or even worse, we know they're making a mistake, but we aren't able to tell them the reality.
Remember Hans Anderson's timeless story, “The Emperor’s New Clothes”? Nobody had the courage to tell the Emperor that a pair of tailors was making a fool out of him. Like Milgram's experiment, all the subjects of the land believed what the Emperor thought. Like Roubini and Taleb, only a little boy had the courage to point out and speak the truth. But it was too late by then. The inevitable happened when the Emperor wore his invisible clothes.
Boss is right many of the times, but never is the boss right all of the times. Next time you confront authority, ask the question, why not? You could save your boss and your organisation from facing the humility of Hans Anderson's Emperor.

Asrar Chowdhury teaches economic theory and game theory in the classroom. Outside he listens to music and BBC Radio; follows Test Cricket; and plays the flute. He can be reached at: asrar.chowdhury@facebook.com