I want to share a little joke. I know, I know – now does not seem like an appropriate time. But just bear with me.
In order to get it, I need to you to picture the scenario in your mind’s eye. So, don’t just scroll to the punchline. Take a moment to really visualize the set up. Ready? Here we go..
A doctor, a hairdresser, a teacher, and a janitor walk into a bar…
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Got it? Do you have the picture in your head? Okay, keep going…
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A doctor, a hairdresser, a teacher, and a janitor walk into a bar…
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You would think at least one of them would have seen it.
Bah dum dum! Did you like my joke? If not, that’s okay. Because as you might have guessed, the point of this article was not to tell you a silly joke.
Here’s the real punchline: when you visualized the set up in your mind’s eye, what did you see? What did the doctor, the hairdresser, the teacher, and the janitor look like? What gender were they? What race? Ethnicity? Age? Sexual orientation? Is it starting to make sense now?
When you pictured the characters in my joke in your head, your unconscious bias was at work, automatically filling in the details that I failed to provide. Now, while I’m no expert on unconscious bias, I have learned a few things over the years:
1. Everyone has unconscious bias. Everyone.*
2. Unconscious bias is not something we choose. It’s formed in our early years and shaped by external factors outside of our control, factors such as our parents, where we grew up, personal experiences, and the media.
3. While we may not be able to change our unconscious bias, we can and should be aware of it — and act accordingly.
So the next time you see a supervisor treat one employee more or less favorably than another, take a minute to ask why. If the answer isn’t immediately apparent, it’s possible the supervisor’s unconscious bias might be at play. Feel free to tell him – or her – this joke.
*Think you don’t have any unconscious bias? Take the test and find out: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html