Good Intentions Are Not Enough

Good intentions are not enough to overcome unconscious bias. Whether we are aware of it or not, the unconscious brain is influencing our perceptions and our behavior.

Brain imaging studies show that simply viewing a photograph of another person can cause different areas of the brain to light up. When a person in a photograph looks more like us, there is increased activity in the reward center – the “feel good” center – of the brain. If the person in a photograph looks very different from us, there is either no reward center activity, or the brain area associated with fear and threats becomes more active. It’s inherently human to move toward reward and away from threats and fear.

Source: The Neuroscience of Inclusion: Managing Unconscious Bias, BrainSkills@Work, LLC

Why This News Is Important…

Biases are a natural part of the brain’s operating system. In fact, the brain is a bias-making machine, and no amount of self-reflection will uncover all of our unconscious biases, preferences or expectations. While it is very important to continually build awareness of our biases, this is not a sufficient strategy for improving and sustaining employees’ ability to demonstrate inclusive behaviors.

The Good News…

When it comes to inclusion, the brain can also work for us. Within the brain, there is a complementary set of processes that can be consciously engaged to demonstrate inclusion skills. Understanding these and other brain dynamics is a key strategy for overcoming unconscious bias in the workplace.

A new approach to developing inclusion skills accounts for the dynamics of the unconscious brain and develops the ability to operate from the neocortex – “the higher brain” – more of the time. It is the higher brain that ensures our ability to:

For More News on Inclusion & the Brain…

It is estimated that 40-50% of the decisions we make every day are unconscious, yet the competency of inclusion lies in the neocortex, where conscious thought occurs. To learn more about how to override the unconscious brain and make choices based on inclusion, respect and appreciation, click www.BrainSkillsAtWork.com to download the white paper, The Neuroscience of Inclusion: Managing Unconscious Bias, by Mary E. Casey & Shannon Murphy Robinson.