Need Help Managing Bias? Try a Revolving Door

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Need Help Managing Bias? Try a Revolving Door

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A few weeks ago, I was in New York for the release of my new book. As I dashed into a skyscraper for an important meeting, I entered the revolving door. But as I charged ahead, a pigeon snuck into the door panel behind me. Before me stood the lobby with floors of glistening marble and walls covered with priceless art. Behind me sneered a bird ready to unleash disorder the second I entered.

But it didn’t take more than a few seconds for the door attendant to start spinning the door until I got into the lobby. Then he continued until the compartment with the pigeon passed back onto the street where the bird flapped away. After I thanked the attendant, he said, “You’ve got to keep the door spinning, and the pigeons will return back outside where they belong.”?

Bias management

Our minds might strive to be inclusive. They may have floors of glistening marble and walls covered in priceless art. But no matter what we do, biases will wander in. And when they do, we’ve got to keep the door spinning until those biases flap away as quickly as they came.

“Crunch time”

But what about those in-between moments? What about in those seconds between when bias pops in and we send them back out? At Uplifting Impact, we work with all kinds of organizations and individuals on bias management. Much of our attention focuses on coaching people in “crunch time” scenarios. Crunch time is the first 10 seconds of meeting someone. While short, they are important. They refer to the first moments we greet a client, welcome a new employee, or meet stakeholders of all kinds.?

During these moments, our brains go into hyperdrive. They scan a person’s appearance for meaning. They scour things like clothing, speech, and posture for information. Unknown to us, they use the smallest pieces of data to guess about a person’s interests, attitudes, and values. Using that information, our brains adjust our behavior–the kinds of jokes we’ll tell, the cultural references we’ll make, and how loud we’ll speak. Without knowing it, every time we meet someone new, we hurdle through this crunch time with lightning speed.

So how do you manage bias, especially during this crunch time? The first few seconds of meeting a new person are the most nerve-wracking. In our panic, how do we fight the urge to freeze halfway through the revolving door, break the machine by trying to push in reverse, or just let the pigeon into the lobby? Here are a few micro behaviors for managing bias in those seconds of crunch time when they spring up the most.?

1?? Acknowledge first impressions

Your brain will notice social identifiers like race, gender, and age. It will seek hints regarding religion, ability status, and nationality. Accept when it’s forming these first impressions, but don’t confuse them with facts you must act upon. Just because you notice someone’s pregnant doesn’t mean you have to succumb to biases about their ability to work. Narrate your perception in the third person. Like a scientist recording observations, say to yourself, “My mind is noticing this person’s possible family care status. That is all.” Admit the data as empirical observations, but don’t interpret, editorialize, or act on them.

2??Make a script

Those first impressions can provoke embarrassment, guilt, and shame, and judging ourselves with such strong emotions actually make these initial biases stay longer than we’d like. To let them revolve out back onto the street, we need to actually minimize their impact by right-sizing them. One way to do this is to train your mind to buy enough time to let first impressions pass by developing an internal script. Being intentional about developing and practicing SOPs you use to manage bias in crunch time scenarios will increase the likelihood that you’ll keep pigeons out of your lobby?

3?? Survey other scripts

A valuable way to develop your own script is to survey others. When we’ve worked with others and had them craft their own, they’ve come up with all kinds of brilliant variations. The best scripts share some themes. Over the years, we’ve combined them into a script that looks something like this.?

1. Greet: Make the initial greeting
2. Acknowledge: Internally acknowledge the data I’m perceiving
3. Pardon: Pardon myself from having to act on the biases I’m acknowledging. Say something to myself like, “My first impression notices X, Y, and Z, but that is just a first impression. I do not have to and should not act upon it.”
4. Small talk: Engage in pleasantries like asking the other person, “How are you?”?
5. Follow-up: Ask a follow-up question that invites more specifics like “How’s your day going so far?”
6. Drill down: Then listen for the last thing they say and ask a third follow-up. If they say their day’s going well because they’ve done A, B, and C, respond with something like, “That’s fantastic. Do you get to do C often?”

While it doesn’t seem like much, this little script has helped lots of people manage their biases during crunch-time scenarios of all kinds. It provides quick and easy-to-remember tactics for managing the anxiety that comes with encountering new people, especially those from social groups you know little about.?

But the last script listed above buys us a few seconds. With three statements we make to ourselves and three questions we ask the other, we disrupt our brain’s panic and intentionally sit in temporary ignorance. Instead of acting as if we know everything about others, it gives them opportunities to teach us about them on their terms. Take from this script what works for you and modify what doesn’t. Whatever you do, develop a script you can practice and remember to help you move from hastily jumping to conclusions about others so you can patiently learn more about them.?

Revolve

The root word of “revolve” comes from the Latin meaning roll back to its original state. You value inclusivity. You strive to hear the ignored and foster a sense of belonging.

But even if you have inclusive aspirations, you will experience biased thoughts.

These momentary thoughts will embarrass you. But as long as you let those first impressions not be the last impression, let them be replaced by second, third, and an infinite number of updating impressions, the revolving door will roll back to your original state of inclusivity. So the next time a pigeon sneaks in, remember, “You’ve got to keep the door spinning, and the pigeons will return back outside where they belong.”?

Our Fellow Cohort Has a Few Words on DEI!

Teedra Bernard, the Chief Talent and Diversity Officer of TransUnion. Teedra is passionate about diversity, inclusion, & equality and understands how critical it is to provide career advancement opportunities and create platforms that influence long-lasting DEI change.

Catch Up with Uplifting Impact!

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