I facilitated a follow up application clinic with a team recently on increasing effectiveness. They are a high performing team with an impressive set of qualifications and experience in a demanding industry. In the session, I asked some penetrating questions to understand how they had integrated the workshop content to the workplace. Several participants shared some profound and insightful reflections and I felt rather pleased. The last participant to speak shared that he had not found the content particularly relevant and had not taken much from the session. He had read broadly on some of the subject matter (Unconscious Bias, Kahneman’s System 1&2 Thinking) previously and felt that it wasn’t particularly impactful on him.


After decades of working in D&I, I am well aware that there will always be people who push back and are not willing or able to be shifted from their viewpoint. What surprised me though was that this person had engaged with the resources at the forefront on the topic and still had a fixed mindset. Further, the person failed to understand the impact of such a explicit position on the team who had just been very open and forthcoming with their own learning. It is intriguing that when discussing the topic of Unconscious Bias just how difficult it is to be fully aware of our own biases and blind spots.


One way to be informed about how our biases may be showing up is to ask for feedback from peers. This obviously requires trust, openness and candour. It can help us better understand and become more aware of the areas where bias may be influencing our decisions and perspectives.

 

 

 

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