Spoiler Alert, You're Biased.

But hey, we all are.

I've been thinking. "Bias" has become a dirty word these days but the truth is we are all littered with it, literally, and it's not going away.

It's how we were designed and it has purpose. Bias helps us process information, bias (instinct) protects us in bad situations, bias guides our decision making process - the issue is, however, being aware of how unconscious bias influences PEOPLE based decisions... In short, hiring.

This can be a major obstacle.

So

Leave your bias right here…

Chances are you can’t – no matter how many debiasing workshops you attend.?

Don’t believe me?

Follow me for a minute:

Don’t think about Zebra’s.

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You’re thinking of a biased Zebra, aren’t you?

Yeah well, that’s the way the mind works - here's a quick lesson from the The Royal Society.

No, I’ll wait – it’s just 3 minutes long and well worth your time.

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Ok so you’re biased, big deal. Like I said, we all are.?In-fact did you know that in the womb you began to prefer your birth mothers voice over that of a stranger, or even a father??You biased little baby.

It’s a neural fingerprint, so to speak. We don’t ever know it’s there but it helps with cognitive recognition so you don't crawl away to new family - hence the crying when a new person holds a new born (stranger anxiety).?But it is and it can influence our decisions before we ever knew what a choice was.

Fast Forward to today, however old you are (or aren’t), and think about the billions of impressions in your mind that drive the millions of decisions you’ll make in your lifetime!

Oh??

What’s that?

You don’t think you’ll make millions of decisions??You’re one of them wafflers’ when it comes to decisions??

I bet you’re wrong!?

In-fact, I’ll bet you’re a wonderful decision maker (I didn’t say they were good decisions, just that you make them).

Did you know that adults make more than 35,000 decisions…

Every. Single. Day.

Wrap your head around this number:

Five Hundred Thirty-Six Million Five Hundred Fifty Thousand

Can’t read that, you’re biased for numbers… let me help

536,550,000

Got it?

That’s how many decisions you’ll make from years 18 to 60.

Hey! Give yourself a pat on the back, making a million decisions like a Superhero!

How many can you remember from yesterday?

Can you remember any??

Can you remember how you decided on what to have for dinner last night?

...shoot, I forgot to have dinner.

Anyways.

Well.

Now hold on.

If you can’t remember all your decisions, how would you presume to ensure that none of them were biased?

So, speaking of being an adult, someone once told me that with great power (decision making) comes great responsibility…?

I think it was my uncle, at the library… Ben??I digress…?

Since you now know you’re biased (that doesn’t make you a bad person), and you’ve been making hiring decisions, let me break this down.?Matrix style!

Do you believe that you being aware of your bias and how bias affects your decisions has anything to do with your ability to be unbiased when making a decision?

Do you think that your candidates and hiring managers or your screening and interviewing are unbiased?

Hmm.

Look, I didn’t tell you this to get down on yourself.?This is just a rant.?You can hack and break the system with help – and no, I’m not telling you to remove the humans completely.

Just normalize how you view talent, remove subjectivity, and supplement your decisions with actionable intelligence – good data.?Hint – resumes and social profiles are NOT good data.?

As for where to find it… well.

You’ve already made the choice, you’re just here to understand why you’ve made it.

As soon as you leave here, you’ll feel better.?

You’ll remember that you don’t believe in all this unconscious bias crap… you’re in control of your own decisions… remember?