Delmore Effect
We are better at seeing how others could improve than at generating our own alternatives.
The Delmore effect (or critique tendency) is the cognitive bias where people are better at generating improvements to existing ideas (others' or their own previous work) than at generating original alternatives from scratch. Critics and editors often excel at refinement without being able to produce original work. This creates asymmetry in creative collaboration: people can spot flaws more easily than they can solve them.
What it looks like in the wild.
- Workplace Code Review vs. Writing A developer who struggles to write a module from scratch can immediately spot and articulate five improvements when reviewing a colleague's implementation — demonstrating how critique mode is cognitively easier than generative mode.
Recognising a definition is not the same skill as spotting it.
Two scenarios from the app, with distractors drawn from the same family of biases — which is what makes them hard.
During a book club, Maria argues the protagonist's decision was foolish and lists three better options. When Maria faces a similar ethical dilemma in her own life, she feels stuck and asks everyone else for advice.
A homeowner offered multiple suggestions for improving a neighbor's curb appeal. When asked what changes he'd make to his own front yard, he shrugged and said he liked it the way it was.
Biases rarely arrive alone.
Understand more. Assume less.
188 biases, 18,869 scenarios, and a record of how you actually decide.
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