How Bias in Business Will Hold You Back

What’s cookin’, y’all?

Eek! Who’s hungry? Cos it’s hot potato time! Yup: let’s talk about bias.

If you think you don’t have any biases, think again. No matter how hard we want to be neutral / good people / allies, bias raises its complicated head.

You probably have a favourite mug to drink from. Maybe it’s the shape or the thickness of the china. I know I feel ‘seen’ if I’m given a cuppa in a mug I like. The tea-maker, however, is doubtless oblivious to my preference! Weirdly, though, I still feel more warmly towards them. Irrational but true.

Let’s ramp it up. I once had a nightmare boss called Si. This means every other Si I meet or I see on TV gets my hackles up. Automatically! It’s only for a split second, yet along comes the bias.

Guess what? It’s when you’re unaware of those triggers that they can blindside you and make you act out of pocket. Can we reasonably tackle this bias-shaped hot potato without upsetting people? Can’t we all just… get along? It’s impossible to open half a can of worms, after all.

As trainers, we at IMPROV Inc. are often invited to mend teams or to coach on how to bridge a divide. We run games on connecting empathetically or how to level a group, no matter how disregulated it might be. With improv’s its infinite possibilities, we can stand with one foot in the past and one in the future and navigate the present, in real time, with a “Yes, and”.

Come find out what we’ve learned and add your say! Our Tuesday Breakfast chat is free. You’ll learn an activity you can try out immediately.

How Bias in Business Will Hold You Back

TRY IT OUT!:

This you can try calmly on your own. The next time you have a gut feeling that activates you, catch it and ask yourself: What is this? Where’s it coming from? Would someone who is in any way different from me have this same reaction? Once you’ve caught the bias by the tail, ask yourself where it started. And if you manage to trace it back to the source, can you have an imaginary dialogue with the ‘source’ of the bias?

Importantly, there’s no demand to change your attitude in this moment. It’s an uncovering exercise, to reveal where the bias originated and how it got there. Then maybe, you’ll feel a little more aware and in control.

“Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance” Verna Myers, DEI consultant and keynote speaker 

Something split…

I love near-futurist dystopian TV show Black Mirror - Man and machine merging; tech intertwining with daily lives. I tend to say to whoever’s listening:

“It’s so ahead of its time!” But I’m wrong.

“It’s ahead of its time!” Impossible. Stuff is, by definition, a product of its time.

“It’s of its time!” that might explain some old-fashioned bias, but doesn’t excuse it.

So when some folks (like Black Mirror’s Charlie Brooker) are good at reading the tea-leaves, we should all take note, because it gives us a window into alternate biases, like looking the wrong way down a kaleidoscope.

Something shared…

Heard of ‘intersectionality’?

Intersectionality noun is: the interconnected nature of social categorisations such as race, class and gender, that can create overlapping / interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.

It came up recently in a workshop we led. Some people had had a tougher time than appeared on the surface. It’s a useful term with nuance and complexity. It folds in all the component parts of a dynamic.

Audra Lorde frames it this way: “There’s no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.”

Bias might be hidden but becoming aware of where inequality lies helps everyone being able to operate at their best, most shiny potential. Understanding intersectionality helps support the vulnerable and keeps power in check. Improv’s ‘make the other person look good’ doubles down on that empathy.

“In the end, ignorance is the source of bias. Cure that there's nothing left to fear or hate”  Daryl Davis, musician and anti-racism activist

Something flagged…

There’s a recent movement in the UK. Citizens are putting up Union Jacks and St George’s Cross flags. Coastal roads are fluttering all day long. Some people think they’re brilliantly patriotic; some, that they’re horribly nationalistic.

Generally speaking, they can of course be either. But context is king. Clearly, they’re what you want them to be AND what they are. Do these flags represent something covert? Are they a dog whistle - a secret call for a particular tribe’s solidarity? If so, who does this visual offer deliberately exclude? Crucially: what’s the wider intention? And why now?

The best move towards understanding and empathy is to unpick intention behind action. Things become clearer (if a little murkier); simpler and yet more complex. It’s hard work. Doing the work is hard. But it’s worth it.

All the best,

Vic (and Paul)

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