30 Common Misconceptions (You Might Make at Work)
Science of People Team 13 min read
In This Article
OK, so I’ve got a little secret to tell you… working overtime actually _isn’t_ more productive. And opposites _don’t_ actually attract. What about these other...
OK, so I’ve got a little secret to tell you… working overtime actually isn’t more productive. And opposites don’t actually attract. What about these other misconceptions?
- Does it actually take 21 days to form a new habit?
- Do we really need to drink 8 cups of water a day?
- Can we see the Great Wall of China from space?
- Does cracking knuckles lead to arthritis?
- Is an open office design actually better?
The answers to these misconceptions (and more!) are down below. Read on!
What is a Misconception? (Definition)
A misconception is a false belief or idea resulting from misunderstanding or incorrect information. These erroneous thoughts can significantly impact decision-making and worldviews.
Common misconceptions include “humans only use 10% of their brains” or “lightning never strikes the same place twice.” In this article, we’ll go over more important misconceptions you might be making.
Now, let’s unravel some of these mental knots, shall we?
Professional Misconceptions Busted
”Multitasking is the key to productivity”
The Misconception: Juggling ten tasks at once makes you a productivity superhero.
The Reality: Turns out, your brain isn’t a circus performer. Studies show that multitasking can actually reduce productivity due to the cognitive cost of switching tasks. It’s like trying to pat your head and rub your belly while also writing an email—something’s gotta give.
The Truth Bomb: Focus on one task at a time. Your to-do list (and your sanity) will thank you.
”Open offices boost collaboration”
The Misconception: Tearing down walls tears down communication barriers, turning your office into a hive of collaborative buzz.
The Reality: A Harvard study found that face-to-face interaction decreased by about 70% in open offices, with electronic communication increasing instead. It’s like expecting a fish to swim better by removing the water.
The Truth Bomb: Sometimes, walls are there for a reason. Consider a mix of open and private spaces for the best of both worlds.
”Introverts can’t be good leaders”
The Misconception: You need to be a loud, outgoing extrovert to lead a team effectively.
The Reality: Many successful leaders are introverts. They often excel at listening, strategic thinking, and one-on-one interactions.
The Truth Bomb: Quiet doesn’t mean ineffective. Sometimes the best leaders are the ones who aren’t trying to win a shouting match.
”Longer hours mean more productivity”
The Misconception: The more time you spend chained to your desk, the more work you’ll churn out.
The Reality: A Stanford study showed that productivity per hour declines sharply when a person works more than 50 hours a week. After 55 hours, you’re just spinning your wheels.
The Truth Bomb: Work smarter, not longer. Your Netflix queue (and your sanity) will thank you. You can also work smarter by leveling up your social skills:
Master your People Skills
Create a Memorable PresenceCommunicate with ConfidenceAchieve Your Goals
Have a question about the presentation or People School? Email Science of People support.
”Brainstorming in groups generates the best ideas”
The Misconception: Get a bunch of people in a room, and the creative sparks will fly! Group brainstorming is the ultimate idea-generating machine.
The Reality: Research shows that individuals working alone actually generate more ideas (and often more creative ones) than groups brainstorming together. This phenomenon is called “production blocking,“—when people in a group have to wait their turn to speak, they often forget or dismiss their ideas.
The Truth Bomb: Sometimes, the best brainstorming happens in solitude. Try having team members come up with ideas independently before bringing the group together. Your next big idea might be hiding in someone’s quiet thoughts, not in a noisy conference room.
”The early bird always gets the worm”
The Misconception: First one in, last one out is the express elevator to success.
The Reality: Productivity and value aren’t measured by clock-watching. Quality of work often trumps quantity of hours.
The Truth Bomb: Sometimes the early bird just gets extra time to scroll through social media. Focus on results, not your timecard.
”Dressing down boosts productivity”
The Misconception: Casual Fridays every day! Sweatpants and flip-flops are the secret sauce to a relaxed, productive workforce.
The Reality: Hold onto your hoodies, folks. Science has found that dressing well in the office does more than just boost an employee’s daily self-esteem—it also leads to better productivity when completing tasks.
The Truth Bomb: While comfort is important, dressing sharp can sharpen your mind. Maybe save those lucky sweatpants for your next movie marathon instead of your next board meeting.
”Feedback is only necessary when something goes wrong”
The Misconception: No news is good news. Only pipe up when there’s a problem to fix.
The Reality: Regular, constructive feedback (both positive and negative) is crucial for employee growth and engagement.
The Truth Bomb: Don’t be a feedback miser. Spread those observations around like confetti, not like rare gems.
Social Skills Misconceptions Debunked
”Body language is 93% of communication”
The Misconception: Nonverbal cues are pretty much the only thing that matters in communication.
The Reality: This statistic comes from a misinterpretation of Albert Mehrabian’s research. More recent research debunked this myth—after all, if it were true, people would be able to understand 93% of foreign language films without subtitles, which is clearly not the case.
The Truth Bomb: Your words matter more than 93%. Although nonverbals do indeed matter! In order to master both, why not try this resource:
[People School]
“Opposites attract in relationships”
The Misconception: People are drawn to romantic partners who are their polar opposites.
The Reality: A study found that similarity, not complementarity, is more likely to lead to long-term relationship satisfaction.
The Truth Bomb: Birds of a feather really do flock together. Shared values and interests are the real love potion.
”You can accurately judge someone’s personality in the first few minutes of meeting them”
The Misconception: First impressions are always accurate and lasting.
The Reality: Research shows that while we form impressions quickly, these initial judgments are often inaccurate and can change significantly over time.
The Truth Bomb: Don’t judge a book by its cover, or a person by your first chat. Give people time to reveal their true selves.
”You need to make eye contact to be a good listener”
The Misconception: Lock eyes or you’re not really listening. It’s the staring contest of communication.
The Reality: Research suggests that too much eye contact can actually be distracting and make it harder to concentrate on what’s being said.
The Truth Bomb: Good listening is about the ears, not the eyes. Feel free to break that gaze without guilt.
”It takes 21 days to form a new habit”
The Misconception: Three weeks of willpower and voila! You’ve got a shiny new habit.
The Reality: A study found that it takes an average of 66 days for a new behavior to become automatic, with a range from 18 to 254 days.
The Truth Bomb: Habit formation is a marathon, not a sprint. Pack snacks for the journey.
Health Misconceptions Debunked
”Cracking your knuckles causes arthritis”
The Misconception: Keep popping those joints and you’ll end up with arthritic hands by 40.
The Reality: Studies have shown no link between knuckle-cracking and arthritis. However, it might annoy the heck out of your coworkers.
The Truth Bomb: Crack away if you must, but maybe not during that big presentation.
”You need to drink 8 glasses of water a day”
The Misconception: Eight is the magic number for hydration heaven.
The Reality: Your water needs vary based on activity level, climate, and overall health. Plus, you get water from foods too.
The Truth Bomb: Listen to your body. If you’re thirsty, drink. If you’re not, don’t force it. Your bladder will appreciate the break.
”Reading in dim light damages your eyes”
The Misconception: Squinting at that novel by candlelight? Hello, coke-bottle glasses!
The Reality: While it might cause temporary eye strain, there’s no evidence that reading in low light causes permanent damage. Your eyes are tougher than you think, champ.
The Truth Bomb: Read wherever you want, but maybe invest in a good reading lamp. Your eyes will thank you, even if your electric bill won’t.
”You lose most of your body heat through your head”
The Misconception: No hat in winter? Might as well be streaking through a snowstorm.
The Reality: This myth probably started with some faulty military experiments. In truth, you lose heat through any exposed body part, and your head isn’t special.
The Truth Bomb: Wear a hat if you’re cold, but don’t panic if you forgot it. Your head isn’t a magical heat escape hatch.
”Eating late at night doesn’t affect weight gain”
The Misconception: As long as you’re not overeating, having dinner at midnight is no different than eating at 6 PM. After all, a calorie is a calorie, right?
The Reality: Hold onto your midnight snacks! One study found that eating later in the day increased hunger, slowed calorie burning, and promoted fat storage, potentially increasing obesity risk.
The Truth Bomb: Your body clock isn’t just for sleep. Consider shifting your feast time earlier if you’re watching your waistline. Your metabolism will thank you.
”You need to wait 24 hours to report a missing person”
The Misconception: Gotta give your missing buddy a full day to turn up before calling the cops.
The Reality: This myth probably came from TV dramas. In real life, time is crucial in missing person cases. In fact, the Washington, DC site clearly states: “There is no time limit that you must wait to report a person as missing.”
The Truth Bomb: If you have reason to believe someone’s missing, report it ASAP. Better safe than sorry, even if they just went on a snack shopping spree.
”Humans only have five senses”
The Misconception: Sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing. That’s all, folks!
The Reality: We’ve got way more than that. In fact, some scientists argue for the existence of 9, 21, or even 33 different senses, depending on how each sense is defined. Think balance, temperature, pain, time… we’re basically walking sensory supercomputers.
The Truth Bomb: Next time someone says “sixth sense,” remind them it’s more like sixteenth. Then watch their mind explode.
Cultural Misconceptions Debunked
”The Great Wall of China is visible from space”
The Misconception: This massive structure is so huge, astronauts use it as a landmark.
The Reality: Sorry, but no. While it’s impressive on Earth, it’s not visible to the naked eye from space. Astronauts aren’t using it as some celestial GPS.
The Truth Bomb: There are plenty of man-made structures visible from space, like city lights at night. The Great Wall just isn’t one of them.
”We only use 10% of our brains”
The Misconception: We’re all walking around with 90% untapped brain power.
The Reality: Neurologists are facepalming everywhere. We use all of our brain, just not all at once.
The Truth Bomb: You’re already using 100% of your brain. Yes, even when you’re binge-watching cat videos.
”Vikings wore horned helmets”
The Misconception: Norse warriors charged into battle looking like angry, human-sized bulls.
The Reality: There’s no historical evidence that Vikings ever wore horned helmets. This image was popularized by 19th-century artists and opera costumes.
The Truth Bomb: Real Vikings were intimidating enough without fancy headgear. Maybe they were just trying to avoid hat hair?
”Napoleon Bonaparte was short”
The Misconception: The famous French emperor was a tiny tyrant with a big attitude.
The Reality: Napoleon was actually about 5’7” (170 cm), which was average height for men in his time. The “short” myth came from confusion between French and English measuring units.
The Truth Bomb: Napoleon wasn’t vertically challenged, just conversion challenged. Maybe he should have invaded the metric system instead.
”The Pyramids were built by slaves”
The Misconception: Ancient Egypt’s wonders were constructed through the backbreaking labor of countless slaves.
The Reality: Archaeological evidence suggests the pyramids were built by paid laborers who were respected for their work. They even got buried near the pyramids!
The Truth Bomb: Turns out, you can build incredible things without a tyrannical overlord. Take note, middle managers everywhere.
Culinary Misconceptions Cooked
”Adding salt to water makes it boil faster”
The Misconception: A sprinkle of salt is the secret to speedy boiling.
The Reality: While salt does raise the boiling point of water, the amount you use in cooking has a negligible effect. In fact, you’d have to add 58 grams of salt to raise the temperature by a mere half degree celsius.
The Truth Bomb: Salt your pasta water for flavor, not for speed. Physics doesn’t care about your empty stomach.
”Coffee dehydrates you”
The Misconception: Your morning brew is secretly sapping all your hydration.
The Reality: While caffeine has a mild diuretic effect, the water in coffee more than makes up for it.
The Truth Bomb: Your coffee habit isn’t turning you into a human raisin. Drink up, but maybe balance it with some water too.
”Alcohol burns off completely when cooking”
The Misconception: Flambé that dish and poof! All the alcohol magically disappears.
The Reality: Depending on the cooking method and time, a significant amount of alcohol can remain in the dish.
The Truth Bomb: Your boozy beef bourguignon might still pack a punch. Maybe don’t serve it at the kids’ table.
”Microwaving food destroys its nutrients”
The Misconception: Nuke your veggies and wave goodbye to all those vitamins.
The Reality: Microwaving can actually preserve more nutrients than some other cooking methods due to shorter cooking times.
The Truth Bomb: Your microwave isn’t a nutrient assassin. It’s just a really impatient oven.
”MSG is bad for you”
The Misconception: This flavor enhancer is the culprit behind your post-Chinese takeout headache.
The Reality: Numerous studies have found no link between MSG and the reported symptoms in most people.
The Truth Bomb: Your MSG fear is probably all in your head. Unlike that msg, which is probably in your food.
The Truth About Misconceptions
Now that we’ve untangled some of these mental knots, you might be wondering, “What other lies have I been living?”
Don’t worry—having misconceptions simply means you’re human! Our brains love shortcuts and sometimes those shortcuts lead us down the garden path of misinformation.
The key is to stay curious, question your assumptions, and always be ready to update your mental software when new information comes along. After all, the only thing cooler than knowing stuff is learning new stuff.So go forth, armed with your new knowledge, and spread the truth. And don’t forget to check out our pop psychology article for further reading: 20 Effective Ways You Can Learn How to Learn