---
id: "quote-minson-vanilla"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["§ Common Causes of False Alignment"]
tags: ["bias", "psychology"]
related: ["concept-false-consensus-effect", "entity-julia-minson"]
speaker: "Julia Minson"
speakers: ["Julia Minson"]
sources: ["governance"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-governance"
originDay: 7
articleStem: "hbr-cl-85-false-alignment-trap"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/07/the-false-alignment-trap"
sourceTitle: "The False Alignment Trap"
---
# Julia Minson on the False Consensus Effect

> "If I love vanilla ice cream, I will persistently overestimate the proportion of the population that also loves vanilla ice cream."

— [[entity-julia-minson|Julia Minson]], Harvard professor

Minson's memorable analogy for the [[concept-false-consensus-effect|false consensus effect]]: loving an idea leads you to overestimate how many others love it too — exactly how executives slide into [[concept-false-alignment|false alignment]] about a new initiative.