b'THE HR HANDBOOKSlow Down to Reduce BiasIT IS A COMPETITIVEadvantage to recognize,SIMILARITYIn-group Bias: Perceiving people who value and leverage the diversity and differences thatBIASES are similar to you (in ethnicity, religion, exist within an organization. Greater inclusion in thesocioeconomic status, profession, etc.) workplace has been shown to drive higher engage- more positively. ment levels and performance which in turn alwaysOut-group Bias: Perceiving people who support business goals. It takes a conscious effort toare different from you more negatively. overcome our natural tendencies. EXPEDIENCEConfirmation Bias: Seeking and finding Unconscious bias is an evolutionary strategyBIASES evidence that confirms your beliefs and that helps our brain organize the world by groupingignoring evidence that does not. similar things together to be faster and more efficient.Halo Effect: Letting someones positive JONATHAN SHAVERHowever, this lumping mechanism also blinds us toqualities in one area influence overall perception of that individual. is the president andnew information or seeing alternative options that owner of Envisioncould lead to better judgements and decisions. EXPERIENCEFalse Consensus Effect: Overestimating BIASES the universality of your own beliefs, Partners LLC.For all of us, bias is a part of every decision fromhabits, and opinions. hiring the right candidate; choosing a job for ourselves;Hindsight Bias: Seeing past events as strategic priorities; a vacation destination, or what tohaving been predictable in retrospect. have for dinner. While we can logically recognize biasesDISTANCEAffective Forecasting: Judging your exist, in the heart of a decision, it is almost impossibleBIASES future emotional states based on how for us to identify our bias(es). you feel now. David Rock and his peers at the NeuroscienceTemporal Discounting: Placing less Leadership Institute have grouped some of the mostvalue on rewards as they move further common biases into five primary categories, called theinto the future. SEEDS model. Table adapted from Rotman Management Magazine,Having words to describe our seemingly invisibleMay 1, 2017biases is a first step to changing our approach. But how do we break out of our biases? Distance bias.Take a trip in time or space. We Similarity bias.Get to know more people. Thetend to overvalue those things that are close to us in desire for safety is the source of this bias. Continuouslytime or space. Mentally go to a set time in the future, build a larger affiliation with new people and groups todescribe the reality of that future independent of the build comfort and identify commonalities with whichdecision and then discuss how todays decision fits you can identify. within that future. If the decision is about another Expediency bias.Make slower decisions. Takeplace, go to that place to make the decision. If this is time to have members of the group take on alternativenot possible, bring items or knowledge of that place to perspectives through role-playing; being a devils- you to counterbalance all that currently surrounds you.advocate or doing a post-mortem. The perceivedAll of these practices engage the brain in a differ-need for speed is the source of this bias. ent way and effectively slow down reflexive thinking. Experience bias.Ask a lot of opinions. It takes anOne cannot control or identify all biases. In your group unbalanced amount of alternative data to counteractidentify just one class of bias that might be in play and what we believe to be true. We have evolved tocreate a process to slow down the thinking. SWbelieve all we see and have seen is all there is to see, and that it is accurate. This bias is particularly harmful when we believe our perception is realitybecauseWHEREThis piece was condensed for print, but if youd likeON THE to read the whole column, visitthe only option is that anyone who disagrees is wrongWEB seedworld.com/slow-down-to-reduce-bias-in-the-workplace.or lying. 18/ SEEDWORLD.COMINTERNATIONAL EDITION 2022'