Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
Jun 23, 2026 · 12 min · 7 segments
Episode 2 continues the conversation on leadership, focusing on decision-making, change, and the human biases that influence how leaders act. The episode explores confirmation bias, emotional…
... yeah, so you know, we have these bazaars, right? And everyone is shouting, "Okay, this has cost so much," and we have these anchoring, um-
Yeah
... bi- so when someone drops a number, everyone is going to orient, um, themself on this number.
And we would say, okay, this is something that will never happen in professional life, in business.
I mean, in- but I've seen this really happen.
So, um, first of all, especially in, um, uh, in, in, in... during the, um, municipal budget talks, we had that one guy has suggested to, um, the, a symbolic cut, but, um, we saw that suddenly all the other proposals measured against that one number, and no one began even to ask, "Okay, w- why did we even have this number?" So we just drop, okay, we have to cut 50%, um, on the, um, on the people we, um, we, we have hired, um, for, for, for, for in the public sector, and no one has asked, okay, um, is there any, uh, information who is backing up this, uh, this, this decision? And, um, we see that in politics.
We see that also in business.
I have a good friend who's working in consultancy in a very big consultant company.
I'm not ta- I'm not mentioning the name, but, uh, you see a lot of times when they consult firm, um, they have...
they just, um, have a number, and they say, "Okay, 40%," and they don't have even a backup for this number.
But when the client is asking, "Okay, what is the reason for that?" They say, "Okay, it's our," um, they will find a very smooth way to, to, to, to, to please the client.
But, um, in reality, there's no evidence, uh, there's no scientific evidence for this, uh, number.
But, uh, you see this is going to happen a lot of times.
People just drop a number and [laughs]
Of course
... everyone-
... yeah, so you know, we have these bazaars, right? And everyone is shouting, "Okay, this has cost so much," and we have these anchoring, um-
Yeah
... bi- so when someone drops a number, everyone is going to orient, um, themself on this number.
And we would say, okay, this is something that will never happen in professional life, in business.
I mean, in- but I've seen this really happen.
So, um, first of all, especially in, um, uh, in, in, in... during the, um, municipal budget talks, we had that one guy has suggested to, um, the, a symbolic cut, but, um, we saw that suddenly all the other proposals measured against that one number, and no one began even to ask, "Okay, w- why did we even have this number?" So we just drop, okay, we have to cut 50%, um, on the, um, on the people we, um, we, we have hired, um, for, for, for, for in the public sector, and no one has asked, okay, um, is there any, uh, information who is backing up this, uh, this, this decision? And, um, we see that in politics.
We see that also in business.
I have a good friend who's working in consultancy in a very big consultant company.
I'm not ta- I'm not mentioning the name, but, uh, you see a lot of times when they consult firm, um, they have...
they just, um, have a number, and they say, "Okay, 40%," and they don't have even a backup for this number.
But when the client is asking, "Okay, what is the reason for that?" They say, "Okay, it's our," um, they will find a very smooth way to, to, to, to, to please the client.
But, um, in reality, there's no evidence, uh, there's no scientific evidence for this, uh, number.
But, uh, you see this is going to happen a lot of times.
People just drop a number and [laughs]
Of course
... everyone-
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