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The fact is that each and every one of us is biased. We have all at some point judged someone according to a stereotype that we are familiar with. Sometimes it’s done consciously because it’s our way of categorising things and people - it helps us to process information, make a decision or decide what action we’re going to take in a given situation. At other times, we are unaware of doing so.Put yourself in this situation: you have been asked to attend a meeting but have come in part way through and so have missed the introductions at the start. As you enter the meeting room, you see that there are a dozen or so people in the room, male and female; some are colleagues who you know and work with, others are from a different organisation who you have not met before. Two individuals from the external organisation are giving an update on a project – one of those individuals is doing most of the talking; he is clearly knowledgeable in the subject matter and speaks with authority. The lady sitting next to him is mostly silent on this agenda item but she quietly points out to her colleague that he needs to get people’s availability on a date for a follow-up progress meeting. So, who is the more ‘senior’ of the two – the man or the woman?
Let’s add another layer to this example, if I said that as the “observer”, you happen to be male and have worked in the same organisation for many years. Most of those who hold roles of authority in your organisation are men and your experience of female managers has been pretty negative to date – are you more likely to make the assumption that the man is the one ‘in charge’?
It was of course the female who was the project lead - her male colleague was the technical expert assigned by her to work on the project. Not having been at the start of the meeting, you had missed her kicking off the meeting and positioning the purpose and objectives of the project.
I can let you in to a secret here, this isn’t a made up scenario. An ex-colleague of mine found himself in this very situation. To his chagrin, he was indeed that person who came to that very conclusion – he assumed that the man was in charge and thought his female colleague was his very efficient PA! (Maybe it was the point relating to diary availability that led him to that conclusion perhaps...). The reality is that most who would have witnessed the snapshot described above would probably assume that the man was in charge – after all he was doing most of the talking and seemed to know a lot!
And herein lies the challenge because unconscious behaviour and biases are not just limited to individuals - they also operate at group and organisational levels. The culture of an organisation affects group attitudes, behaviours and decision-making processes below the conscious level. As Edgar Schein, one of the most well-known theorists working with organisational culture states, the bottom line for leaders is they must become conscious of the cultures in which they are embedded, because, if leaders are to lead then it is essential that they have that cultural understanding and that they consciously influence it. Daniel Kahneman is another leading authority on, as he describes them, ‘human foibles’ and a Nobel prize-winner.
A senior leadership team needs not only to be aware of this but they need to lead by example because in being responsible for setting the direction and strategy of the organisation, they will also set the tone and style of working. And so, it may go from just a handful of individuals to the whole organisation becoming accepting of bias, so much so that it does actually become part of “the way we do things around here”.
There are some ways you can reduce unconscious bias:
1. Firstly, recognise that all of us do it – human bias is based on scientific fact in that our brains are ‘hard-wired’ to make bias decisions on implicit associations, social categorisations and stereotypes.
2. Learn to mistrust your first impressions (see our earlier blog "First impressions can be wrong..."). First impressions lead us to make errors of judgement, so be aware of the ‘halo effect’.
3. Take your time – rushing from one meeting to the next and making decisions under pressure only adds to bias decision-making and a ‘rapid categorisation’ process that stereotypes and discriminates against some groups more than others.
4. Promote a culture of respect – identify your hidden norms and ways of working.
5. Challenge existing norms and behaviours – question why one person has been selected for promotion (for example) as opposed to another. Look for ‘patterns of exclusion’ throughout the organisation and make it your business to spotlight these.
Something worth consciously thinking about I would say.
What has been your own experience either from an individual or from an organisational perspective?