0:00

Most people think bias is always

0:02

a bad thing. That's not

0:04

me. I'm biased and I want

0:06

you to join me. I'm

0:09

Dr Jonathan. I've got a PhD

0:11

in your problems and I'm on a

0:13

mission to help a million people like you

0:15

to make your workplace inclusive. Get

0:17

your pen and paper ready because we're

0:19

talking about why I'm proud to be

0:21

biased about inclusion. People

0:24

tell you bias is a bad thing.

0:26

People will tell you that you need

0:28

to be careful of your unconscious bias.

0:30

I spend a lot of time, in

0:32

fact, telling you that unconscious bias training

0:34

is a waste of your time. There's

0:36

no evidence it works. There's no follow -up

0:38

to make it work. And there's no

0:40

point you wasting your budget on something

0:42

that is so risky you can't answer

0:44

questions about if it works. I'm

0:47

biased against unconscious bias training because

0:49

it doesn't work because there's no

0:51

evidence because there's not enough I'm

0:54

biased towards action and I want you

0:56

to join me. So here's what we're

0:58

gonna cover today. One, why I

1:00

choose to be biased towards inclusive action.

1:03

Two, why most research

1:05

expects someone else to take

1:07

action. And three, why blaming

1:09

them strips you of power. And

1:12

as always, I'm gonna wrap up with a key

1:14

message and a question for you to answer to

1:16

make sure that this sticks for you. So

1:18

let's start with something I talk about all the

1:21

time. Evidence -based inclusion. This

1:24

means gathering evidence from four

1:26

key sources. One is the

1:28

academic literature. Two is data

1:30

from your organization. Three are

1:32

stakeholders, people who are affected

1:34

by the decisions you make.

1:36

And four is professional expertise,

1:38

yours and other people's. Now

1:40

I always start with the

1:42

academic literature or the scientific

1:44

literature because It's great

1:47

for diagnosing problems. It

1:49

uncovers bias. It maps inequality. It

1:51

identifies systemic issues. But here's the

1:53

thing. It's not so good in

1:55

helping you to do something. It's

1:57

not hot on your next action

1:59

steps. Next time you read

2:02

an academic paper, check out how

2:04

much time, how much space is

2:06

dedicated in helping you to do

2:08

something. Most of the answers

2:10

rely on policy change. And most

2:12

of that policy change is for someone

2:14

else to do. governments, committees,

2:17

institutions, those people

2:19

out there. But you?

2:22

You read that research and you're left

2:24

wondering, what should I do? You

2:26

don't need another problem diagnosis. You need

2:28

a decision. You need the next

2:31

step. I'm biased towards action and

2:33

I want you to join me. And

2:35

this leads me to the second problem. A

2:37

lot of people talk about change, but

2:39

they expect someone else to make it happen.

2:41

You see it a lot on social

2:43

media and you've heard this. They need to

2:45

wake up. They need to change. They

2:47

should want to learn. It's always

2:49

they, never me, never you.

2:52

And this undermines your agency.

2:54

And in particular, it

2:56

strips away your self -efficacy. Self

2:58

what? Self -efficacy. It's

3:01

a famous concept from psychologist

3:03

Professor Albert Bandora. It's

3:05

really famous. Self -efficacy is

3:07

an individual's belief in their

3:09

capacity to act in ways necessary

3:11

to reach their specific goals. Self

3:14

-efficacy affects every area of human life.

3:16

And when I was doing my

3:18

PhD, they constantly told us that self

3:21

-efficacy was a predictor of success in

3:23

almost every endeavor in life. And

3:25

look, I was in the Department of

3:27

Management, so they were talking about

3:29

the workplace. Now, suppose you

3:31

accept that. Suppose you accept what I

3:33

just said. Self -efficacy

3:35

is about belief, but it

3:37

also requires action. Not

3:40

begging others to do it, not

3:42

waiting for others to do it,

3:44

not shaming others into doing it.

3:46

It's about your confidence and your

3:48

ability to do it. And

3:50

I say this because this

3:52

podcast exists to improve your

3:54

confidence in your ability. This

3:56

podcast exists to help you

3:58

to take action. I'm biased

4:00

towards action and I want you to

4:02

join me. And I really want to

4:04

drive this home because I've made some

4:06

big claims here. I literally start the

4:08

show saying, I'm on a mission to

4:10

help a million people like you to

4:12

make your workplace inclusive. This requires

4:14

you to do something. This requires you

4:16

to take action. And this is

4:19

a lot easier if you share my

4:21

bias towards action. That's why at

4:23

the end of every single show, I

4:25

always say, so what do you

4:27

think? Not what they think, not what

4:29

your company thinks. You. What do

4:31

you think? And after that, I ask

4:33

a question and that question implies

4:35

you taking action. Trust me, stay to

4:37

the end of this show. You're

4:39

going to hear me say it today.

4:41

I say it every time. This

4:43

is why I always say I

4:45

want you to make your own mind

4:47

up. Not let me think for

4:49

you, not for DEI experts to think

4:51

for you. It's all about you.

4:53

When you think for yourself, you can

4:55

use what the Stoics refer to

4:57

as your reasoned choice, your critical thinking,

4:59

your opinion is powerful, your

5:01

opinion counts. And my hope

5:03

is that you'll take everything that

5:06

I share here today and in

5:08

every episode to create a workplace

5:10

where everyone can perform, everyone can

5:12

belong, everyone can reach their potential.

5:14

That's what I want personally and

5:17

that's what I'm working towards every

5:19

single day. because I'm biased towards

5:21

action and I want you to

5:23

join me. And also I'm cheering

5:25

you on. So let's wrap this

5:27

up. What are the key messages here? One,

5:30

not all bias is bad

5:32

at all times. Two, research diagnosis

5:34

problems but really shows you

5:36

what to do next. And

5:38

three, waiting for them

5:40

undermines your power to

5:42

change things. So what do

5:45

you think? What specific action are you

5:47

going to take this week to create

5:49

a more inclusive workplace? Send

5:51

me a message directly if you want to discuss

5:53

this further. If you've learned something

5:55

from today's show then give us a

5:57

five star review and a comment wherever you're

5:59

listening to the podcast. It helps other

6:01

people like you find the show. Thanks

6:03

for listening and see you in

6:05

the next episode.