Getting to the correct answer is not always as easy as it seems it should be. One of the leading roadblocks is personal bias. Personal biases are a culmination of our experiences, beliefs, misconceptions, desires, motivations, pride and many other elements that make up our day-to-day thought patterns. Unfortunately, personal bias can be destructive when it comes to solving problems. Yes, I know that's a bold statement. I wont get into the justification here; let’s just assume that I am right. That is your first exercise in letting go of a personal bias…

The goal of this article is to discuss ways to reduce your personal biases and thus experience a richer set of successes, correct answers and rewarding experiences. For the seeker of simplicity and innovation, this will mean a greater probability of creating perfect solution.

To overcome personal bias, one must:

1. Accept ones own fallibility – when we assume that our way is the only way, we miss out on opportunities to grow and enrich the things that are important to us.
2. Cultivate intellectual empathy – this can only be achieved by gaining experience and constructing points of view towards another’s negative feelings. Opening yourself up to find your blind spots is especially useful when you are hearing complaints about something you believe to be in good working order.
3. Develop intellectual humility – identify the extent of your own ignorance and become "ego-sensitive." Is your current position one of fact, pride or belief?
4. Identify the extent of your own ignorance – perhaps some of your biases are not as concrete as you think. Recall previous beliefs that you once held but now reject.

Perhaps Steven Covey stated it best; "Seek first to understand, then to be understood." You can’t solve other peoples problems as you understand them, you have to solve them the way they understand them.