“Why do you brush your teeth?”
When I ask that in my unconscious bias trainings, people give me a very strange look.
Because you want healthy teeth and fresh breath, obviously. Except, for millennia, humans were perfectly happy without either. So what changed
Advertising. Marketing. Pepsodent, especially. They made you want to brush your teeth. They made you desire that clean feeling. They made it into a habit.
You can apply this practice to interrupt unconscious biases. It just takes doing the work. Here are three tips to help you start.
1. Slow down your thinking.
When you find yourself making assumptions about someone, ask yourself why. Uncover the facts. Why did you reach that conclusion? What evidence demonstrated that belief? When you find yourself forming first impressions of people, analyze why and how you made those first impressions.
2. Create a counter-stereotypical narrative.
In her excellent TED Talk, “The Danger of the Single Story,” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie talks about how stereotypes create only a single story about a person— a single story that is incomplete. Work to build other stories about the person for whom you’ve made an assumption.
Consider your initial reaction to this scene: Nine people are in a bar — two are lawyers, one is a truck driver, two are doctors, one is a judge, one is a legal assistant, one is a firefighter and one is the bartender.
Did you assume that everyone in that bar is a white man, except for perhaps the legal assistant? That assumption results from living in a world that portrays those roles as reserved for white men. Interrupt that unconscious bias by creating a counter-stereotypical narrative in your own head. Imagine Korean judges and Black lawyers and Native American doctors and women firefighters. Constantly interrupt this shortcut thinking in your head.
3. See the person, not the stereotype.
Practice this pointer when, for example, you see someone arrive late for an appointment. Don’t assume you know what the reason is because of the stereotypes you have of the person’s group (“people like her are always late”).
Instead, start by observing what’s happening in the moment — right now. Explore explanations for why this is happening. Again, slow down your thinking and increase your objectivity. See the person, not the stereotype. And do it with empathy.
You’re not critiquing for the sake of criticizing. You’re exploring with the goal of understanding. It’s not enough to simply see beyond the stereotype. Do the extra work to see the person as well.
Create new habits. Build new behaviors. That’s how you can interrupt unconscious bias for good.
This article first appeared in Real Leaders.
Michelle Silverthorn is Founder and CEO of Inclusion Nation, that works with Fortune 500 companies, tech start-ups, nonprofits and universities to design authentic, inclusive spaces for success. A recognized organizational diversity expert and speaker, she has written extensively on the topic. She is a TEDx speaker, and author of the new book, “Authentic Diversity: How to Change the Workplace for Good” (CRC Press, Sept. 9, 2020). Learn more at michellesilverthorn.com.