February 9, 2023 | By David M. Wagner

“I know that program – I went through it myself. I know this guy can absolutely do what’s required for this position.”

A fellow manager and I were filling a job opening. His remark, about a graduate of the same school and leadership program as himself, seemed benign enough. It was also steeped in unconscious bias – in favor of a candidate with a background similar to his own.

Many roadblocks to decision-making slow down the process. Biases, on the other hand, are shortcuts that speed up decisions. We’re wired to be drawn to what is familiar. What’s familiar feels safe. And so, consciously or not, we quickly sort through options in favor of ones we recognize.

But our biases also lead to less effective choices. A poignant example is the long-term social effects of unconscious racial, ethnic, and class biases in many businesses’ personnel decisions. The effects have been hugely detrimental for excluded individuals, their communities, and the businesses that have lost the value of their contributions.

Biases are not always about fraught social issues. Our experiences with a vendor, program model, or some other business approach can color our decision-making. Our bias for the familiar can make it difficult to seriously consider novel options.

Biases can be notoriously tricky to eliminate entirely. A more successful approach is to manage the potential for biases to influence our decision-making processes:

• Accept the potential for bias. Recognize that bias is most often unconscious. Pretend you have a blind spot, even if you don’t think you do. Proceed with the conviction that something out of your conscious control may make your decision less effective.

• Introduce diversity. Consider additional, unfamiliar options. Consult others with backgrounds that differ from yours, or even turn over the decision to a panel that represents diverse perspectives. Use inquiry to unearth new ways of thinking.

• Create an objective decision framework. Identify the criteria you’ll use to make the decision and screen them carefully for potential bias. Less familiar options may require a bit more information gathering to evaluate fairly. Measurable factors like observable performance (tests, demonstrations, role-playing scenarios) may be more reliable than subjective measures, such as reputation (e.g., of a candidate’s school or of a vendor).

• Commit to using to the framework. This seems redundant. But I’ve seen leaders undermine the objectivity of their decision-making process by treating the results of the framework as a “recommendation,” and then choosing a different (biased) path.

• Check your work. Systemic biases are hard to overcome if they’re hidden. Ask an outsider to review your decision processes and results. Would someone independent reach the same conclusions? Are there unintended patterns your decisions?

Simply being aware of the potential for bias is already a strong start to overcoming its potential influence. Intentionally managing bias in your decision-making processes can help your team make more effective choices. If you’d like an independent observer to assess and help minimize the biases in your organization, schedule a call with us.