You're navigating a culture shift. How can you tackle unconscious bias to achieve inclusivity goals?

Unconscious bias is not the enemy. Our bias is simply another word for our lens and our lens is also our greatest asset. Utilising Ai to gracefully surface unconscious bias is highly effective. The starting point is to begin using Otter .au or similar to attend every virtual meeting and transcribe. Then begin compiling these transcripts and prompt Ai to connect dots using what it perceives to be ‘unspoken’ but inferred. This keeps it generic m, hypothetical and anonymous so you’re not targeting anyone in particular but also giving people permission to acknowledge and act upon anything that emerges, whether it be positive negative or neutral.

Understanding the current state is the first step in addressing unconscious bias. What preconceived ideas are already in place? How are they manifested? How can we become more aware of our unconscious biases? Often, we are quick to recognize biases in others but fail to see our own. Helping the organization to self-reflect and identify areas of opportunity is a crucial step towards initiating a culture shift. It's important to remember that this process requires time and effort. I recommend hiring a third-party company specialized in this type of work to ensure that the results are accurate and effective.

Safe spaces help but the anonymity provided by Ai enabled solutions will be much more effective because our unconscious bias is unconscious which means we are incapable of seeing it let alone talking about it.

Surfacing the bias of the collective and sharing the themes is much more effective than a one on one approach. Becoming aware of emergent themes within the collective gives an individual permission to acknowledge these themes within themselves. This phase of ‘self-discovery’ is the gate opener to personal growth but that growth is a person and sometimes intimate journey. In this scenario incentivising an individual to challenge themselves rather than trying to identify and create the challenge for them can be more effective and less likely to be rejected or repelled.

Receiving policies collaboratively. Everything that is codesigned becomes a shared responsibility and commitment rather than a directive. There will always be directives that don’t require or call for collaboration but it’s about inclusion and feeling heard so that we know our voice matters and is helping shape the organisation. If we feel that it isn’t being heard or helping shape the organisation then we won’t see any point in speaking let alone ideating.

Diversity and inclusion are not goals they are a byproduct of the culture. A good way to begin shifting your mindset is to remember that everything produced that was preconceived and influences someone else was not inclusive. Everything that was conceived with the people it influences was done inclusively. If you involve the stakeholders at the point of conception then you will have an inclusive culture. This doesn’t mean consensus decision making it just means every stakeholders voice helped give shape to the concept.