Cognitive Bias Match Game

When a cross-departmental project succeeds, a team lead emphasizes how his strategic vision and leadership skills were pivotal. When the next project fails to meet objectives, he points to budget constraints, lack of executive support, and market changes. This pattern creates resentment among team members who notice they receive credit only when things go poorly.

A hiring manager interviews five candidates in one day. The final candidate performs well but is merely above average compared to the day's second interviewee, who was exceptional. Nevertheless, the manager feels most positively inclined toward the last candidate because their performance remains freshest in memory. This recency effect leads the manager to potentially overlook the strongest candidate simply because they weren't interviewed last.

During the cryptocurrency boom of 2017, many inexperienced investors rushed to buy Bitcoin after seeing its price skyrocket and hearing success stories from friends and media. Despite having little understanding of the technology or market dynamics, they invested significant amounts because "everyone else was doing it" and they feared missing out on potential gains. When the market eventually crashed in 2018, many who had jumped on the bandwagon suffered substantial losses because their decisions were based on social momentum rather than fundamental analysis.