The way I like to think of it is that diversity is the ingredients in your recipe, all the different elements that come together. It’s the mix. Inclusion is the finished product. It’s the cake.
While getting the mix right will achieve a much better outcome, it requires an understanding of unconscious bias — the attitudes, perspectives and stereotypes we accumulate through our life experience that can influence our decision making, particularly when we are under pressure.
This pressure might be generated by an ambiguous situation, tiredness or a lack (or overload) of information. We need to think fast, so we fall back on our unconscious bias, which often leads to an inaccurate assessment based on flawed reasoning.
Unconscious bias can often mean only a narrow pool of candidates are interviewed for a job or promoted into senior roles. It limits diversity and inclusion in the workplace, which in turn blocks innovation.
Because we can’t process all the information we receive at once, unconscious bias works as a reflex, inclining us towards quick judgements and rash assessments. The first step in managing these hidden influencers is to recognise the common types of bias.
You can read more about this and the 5 common types of bias in my new book “Respect Trumps Harmony”.
