TACKLING BIAS
When you think of a bias, what do you immediately associate it with? Prejudice, discrimination, ignorance? Those adjectives are predominately negative. We see bias through a window – it’s over there – it’s not here. It’s not how we behave.
Wrong. If you are human then you are biased, and that’s a fact. But that’s not always a bad thing. Bias is actually useful in many situations and without these biases we wouldn’t be able to function. Bias is there to protect us and keep us safe. In fact, we all have at least 150 cognitive biases (according to Daniel Khaneman’s book, Thinking Fast And Slow) but bias is something we observe in other people, not in ourselves, and we struggle to accept we are so riddled with bias because we feel ashamed to admit we may be prejudiced and irrational. I personally have multiple biases – and I help people reduce bias for a living. No, the irony isn’t lost on me!