Revealing Hidden: Navigating Unconscious Bias

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Did you know teams with diverse ages, genders, and cultural backgrounds perform more effectively than others? This statistic is underlined in a McKinsey report, emphasizing the potential of diverse groups (See photo #1). However, unconscious bias cases often reduce potential, especially in global teams. This issue led me to Carmen Acton, MBA , MS, MCC, NLP 's article "Are You Aware of Your Biases?" in Harvard Business Review, which inspired me to address the challenging question:

How can we challenge biases we are not even aware of?

Carmen Acton's heartfelt story in her article offers a deep insight into how to challenge our unseen biases. She shares a pivotal moment when she recognized her unconscious prejudice against a team member without formal education. "Often, it's easy to "call out" people when we notice their microaggressions or biases. But it's challenging to recognize and acknowledge these behaviors in ourselves." This realization was a trigger for the transformation of her leadership approach.

The Subtle Specter of Unconscious Bias

Unconscious or implicit bias is an automatic and involuntary attitude that influences our understanding, actions, and decisions. These biases are caused by our background, cultural environment, and personal experiences, deep-rooted in our subconscious, and influence our behavior toward others. Unlike explicit biases, which are conscious and intentional, unconscious biases operate without our awareness, making them especially dangerous in various work environments.

"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite." - Nelson Mandela.

This quote by Nelson Mandela perfectly describes that implicit biases are not inborn but acquired through our lives.

Unconscious biases can come in various forms, Research by Harvard Business Review illustrates an affinity bias, where we are inclined toward people with similar backgrounds or interests as we do; confirmation bias, which causes us to favor information that confirms our pre-existing views, where stereotypes about these characteristics influence our perceptions and actions and attribution bias is when we attribute our successes to our skills and talents and our failures to things outside our control.

Confronting the Unseen: My Personal Epiphany

I genuinely understood the significance and meaning of bias several years ago. This recognition was not immediate but emerged gradually as I navigated the complexities of a project that brought together individuals with different cultures and backgrounds. The term "bias," previously only associated with word discrimination, took deeper meaning.

The project aimed to implement new software to boost our organization's operational efficiency. My team was a blend of experts from West Asia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. Each member brought a unique set of skills. Among them, Igor from Eastern Europe and Amina from Central Asia were involved in technical direction. As the project unfolded, I was more attracted by Igor's contribution. His skills, ideas, and confidence made him more reliable. On the other hand, I also recognized Amina's technical and analytical skills, but she seemed to take a back seat in decision-making. This action wasn't a conscious choice on my part; had anyone asked, I would have confidently claimed objectivity in valuing each team member's input.

The wake-up came unexpectedly, not from a formal meeting but from a spontaneous occasion. In the lounge area, drinking my morning coffee, I heard Amina's voice enthusiastically talking to a group about the problem we had been working on for several days. Her voice was confident and full of creativity. For a moment, I was surprised, wondering who this problem-solver was as if hearing her for the first time. It was a moment of revelation that made me realize that Amina's ideas always had a spark of innovation and brilliance in problem-solving. Until now, that somehow escaped my perception, hidden by unconscious biases I had not acknowledged.

This incident was more than just a wake-up call; it made me acutely aware of how my implicit bias towards Igor had led me to underestimate Amina's abilities and contributions. Driven by this newfound awareness, I initiated measures to ensure a more equitable and inclusive environment within our team. I began by implementing a rotating leadership model for technical discussions, ensuring that every team member, regardless of their background, had the opportunity to lead and demonstrate their skills.

The current shift not only fostered a more inclusive and dynamic team environment but also markedly improved our project's innovation and performance. By challenging my biases and reevaluating how I viewed each team member's contributions, I was able to unlock more talent and creativity within our team.

Shaping Tomorrow

Considering this pivotal experience, I realize its significant consequences for the future of work, particularly in the field of intercultural management and harnessing collective intelligence. The future of work demands a new standard of leadership—one that is acutely aware of the precise influences of bias and is equipped with the tools and strategies to create an environment where diverse talents are recognized, nurtured, and harmonized.

This experience taught me that to challenge biases we are unaware of, we must encourage acknowledgment and education. The critical point is to investigate your beliefs and assumptions and become aware of your unconscious biases. People can learn about and become more conscious of their biases with the use of workshops, seminars, and tools such as Project Implicit. Establishing a "virtual laboratory" to collect data from the internet and educating the public about bias are the objectives of Project Implicit. Scientists working on Project Implicit generate significant research that serves as the foundation for our understanding of bias and inequality in science. Establishing an inclusive workplace where each team member is valued for their own contributions regardless of background is essential. According to Deloitte inclusive leaders create teams, which have higher performance, better decision-making, and innovation rates (See photo #2).

Inclusive Leadership and Team Performance (source: based on Deloitte)

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Since overcoming implicit bias is a continuous process, be receptive to debates and comments and commit to ongoing progress.

As I already mentioned above, Mandela's words, we learn bias throughout our life, and the beginning of this journey is in childhood. Children's perspectives are greatly influenced by their families and schools, which have the power to either strengthen or weaken prejudices by encouraging inclusivity and critical thinking. At first, parents should discover their biases, expose children to different cultures and religions, and show how to treat everyone with respect and kindness, no matter their background. Select literature, films, and other media that offer a variety of characters and viewpoints to combat stereotypical images of communities. The education system should train teachers, promote critical thinking, make every student feel valued, create activities that unite diverse students and involve parents in encouraging diversity and inclusion.

Conclusion

In conclusion, addressing the central question of challenging unconscious biases requires a complex approach rooted in introspection, education, and systemic change. Unconscious bias in global teams must be found and overcome through an individual's journey of self-awareness, ongoing learning, and organizational commitment to building inclusive and diverse structures.

“Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance.”-Verna Myers

According to Verna Myers, recognizing diversity alone won't help us overcome prejudice; instead, we need to foster an atmosphere where everyone feels important and included.