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Covert bias impacts organisations
Bron Williams • December 1, 2020
As children, we’ve all dropped a stone into a pond and seen the ripples expand outward,
getting larger and larger with each concentric circle.
Writing for Forbes Magazine, Dr. Melinda Fouts expands on this idea about the unforeseen impacts of bias when she writes that, “Even when consciously making a decision, hidden biases influence good decision making, and like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, there is a ripple effect from that decision that can impact many areas. If you are in a leadership role, that ripple effect can result in multiple consequences in an organization.”
When it comes to making decisions, leaders need to understand that unacknowledged and unaddressed bias hampers the clarity needed to make decisions. This happens because bias clouds our thinking and introduces irrelevant constraints, such as a person’s nationality, language or faith background, gender or disability, weight or age. These factors, which are purely external, are unconsciously given credence over looking at all that a person or an option has to offer.
More than this, unconscious bias also undermines the values we hold dear because bias works against our conscious belief systems and privileges compromise. We can consciously believe one thing about ourselves or others, and still hold an unknown bias which has the ability to compromise those values. When this bias remains unacknowledged, it is easier to choose the route of compromise over the one that aligns with our values, because the latter challenges how we see ourselves. We therefore stay within our comfortable boundaries rather than taking an active step out into the unknown.
When a leader, who is aware that they have biases, is called on to make a decision, a vital step to mitigate the risks that biases impose is to ask the next question. And that question is a version of ‘Who does this decision hurt?’ or ‘Who does this decision overlook?’ For example, if a person is being considered for a promotion and the quick decision is to dismiss them as a candidate because they’re in their late 50s, stop and consider whether their age presents any real restriction on their ability to do the job well. The same can be applied to any other external constraint. Is their skin colour really a bar to them doing the job well? Or, if a policy or system is being put in place, stop and ask that next question – have I considered all perspectives here or am I making a quick judgment based solely on my outlook or experience of life?
Unacknowledged bias can really kill our ability to choose. And if we’re a leader, good decision-making is vital. Just like that stone dropped into the pond, unaddressed bias has a ripple effect that flows out through businesses and corporations, impacting staff, leadership, clients and customers, and, ultimately, the bottom line. Leaders must make decisions. They can make better decisions when they stop that ripple effect at the very beginning by not allowing the pebble of bias to fall into the lake of decision-making.