So many thoughts have been splashing about in my mind over the last few weeks. I don’t even know where to start.

Whether it’s the arrest of two black men at Starbucks while waiting; the arrest of a black woman at a Waffle House in Alabama while ordering; the situation with two black men at LA Fitness while working out; the embarrassment to 5 black women while playing golf at a Pennsylvania golf course or the show of force by the police, responding to a call about 3 black women who were leaving a house they rented through Airbnb in California - my head is spinning!

These are all obvious cases of bias or people who got what they deserved, depending on who you are, your belief system and your unconscious bias. But what is unconscious bias?

Some Definitions

Unconscious. The part of the psyche lying far below consciousness and not easily raised into consciousness. In Freudian psychology, the unconscious cannot be directly observed with the conscious mind, but it has its own processes and deeply affects conscious thought.

Bias. Inclination or prejudice for or against one person or group, especially in a way considered to be unfair.

Unconscious bias. Your background, personal experiences, societal stereotypes and cultural context can have an impact on your decisions and actions without you realising. Implicit or unconscious bias happens by our brains making incredibly quick judgments and assessments of people and situations without us realising.

I want to raise the possibility that you are reading this article right now and may be very biased without knowing it. Maybe in not so obvious ways as the examples I started with, but in other ways that have long lasting impact on other persons. It’s a weakness we all have developed as humans because the brain uses previous information stored, to make decision-making less onerous.

Can you imagine having to think hard and really concentrate every time you were to perform a simple task? So, this shortcut can be very useful. Most of the things we do repeatedly are done without conscious thought. However, what happens when the shortcuts do not serve us or others? What happens when the shortcuts hurt others, based on the associations that our brains make at a deep unconscious level?

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• Do my unconscious biases impact how I treat people who are overweight?
• People who do not worship the way I do, or do not worship at all?
• People who are short?
• Female politicians? Female leaders? Male care givers?
• Less attractive people? People without perfect teeth?
• White or light skinned people? Dark skinned people?
• People over 50 years old applying for a job?

The fact is many of these attributes are not chosen, they are mostly accidents of birth, such as gender, attractiveness and skin colour. Others are a result of the person’s ability to pay, such as perfect teeth, if you or your parents could afford braces.

The sad thing is that most of us will say we have no such biases, but the naked truth is that we all do in some way. But how do we check ourselves to ensure that no one suffers under our watch? Is it even possible to detect what is unconscious?

I suggest we can all start by observing how we respond to certain events and people. It really helps if you have the same type of encounter with persons on different sides of you biases and process your reactions and responses at a conscious level, after the fact.  You then ask yourself if you treated both persons the same way. Were you much easier on the more attractive candidate? Were you more critical of the candidate who was much darker? Were you more agreeable with the male employee who asked for a better assignment or a salary increase?

If you are brave enough ask others around you who you can depend on to tell you the truth about yourself (this is important). When you get the answer that you do not want to hear, instead of arguing with them from a conscious level do some soul searching and deep introspection. It may come as a surprise that it is quite normal to behave in ways that are diametrically opposed to the values that we swear by and vociferously advocate with our mouths; going against what we know to be right at a cognitive level.

We must start checking ourselves and check often for unconscious bias. How many persons did not get the job although they were the best suited and most qualified? How many persons did not get the promotion, the raise or the benefit of the doubt? How many did not get the fellowship or the scholarship? How many were simply passed over? Many, many, because of our unconscious bias. We must work hard at righting these wrongs now, starting with the person in the mirror.

Let’s keep the conversation going and stop hurting others.

Email me at [email protected]

CEO and Senior Partner

Above or Beyond