Russ: “Can I tell you what happened?” I nodded so he pulled me aside and said, “I’m only telling you because I know the work you’re in.”

Amy: “What happened?”

Russ: “I was at a fast food restaurant in town. My wife and I went in for dinner and all the employees—they were all teenagers—totally ignored us. We waited for them to turn around and take our order but they just kept talking with each other. I finally asked for help. After one of them finished talking with her friends, she turned around and said in a derogatory tone, “How can I help you?’ After we gave her our order, she yelled it back to the kitchen, then, without a word, she turned her back on me.”

Amy: “That must have been awkward. Are you telling me this because they were black teenagers?”

Russ: “Yes. And when the gal came over with our food, she slapped it down in front of us and walked away again without saying a word. We didn’t react. We just ate quickly, cleaned up after ourselves and left. I just wanted you to know how we were treated. That’s the way those people are.”

Amy: “That’s tough. Must have made you mad.”

Russ: “Not really.”

Amy: “I guess it was upsetting enough for you to tell me about it.”

Russ: “Yeah, it was disturbing.”

Amy: “So, did you talk with the manager?”

Russ: “Why would I do that?”

Amy: “Because you got sub-par service. May I ask you a question?” Russ nodded. “If those kids had been white, would you have complained to the manager?”

Russ: “Sure, I would have complained.”

Amy: “So you’re telling me that you have a lower standard for black kids than white kids?”

Russ: “No!” He looked thoughtful and then asked, “It won’t do any good to complain, will it?”

Amy: “Well, you won’t really know for sure until you find out, right? You could call and ask for the manager.”

Russ: “I’ll think about it.”

Until I asked the question, to help him consider getting more information, Russ hadn’t realized he was acting out an assumption he held about African American people.

What’s an assumption?

An assumption is an idea that we accept as true about a person, group of people or situation without proof. And then there’s the specific kind that Russ was acting on, called a hidden assumption.

What’s a hidden assumption?

It’s an inherent ‘blind spot’ in our thinking that reduces accuracy and can ultimately result in an inaccurate, and often irrational, conclusion.

These types of conclusions are stored in in our brains, and because we encounter them so often in our own thinking and they’re reinforced by our background and cultural environments, we think these conclusions are “normal” and true.(1) They’re not, though. And, if left unchecked, they can hinder our ability to talk, behave and work collaboratively and kindly with our colleagues and clients.  

Not all broken thinking and blind spots are labeled, but some are so common they are given names. The good news is once named, they’re easier to notice, analyze and ultimately debunk.

One example of a hidden assumption (also known as unconscious bias) is confirmation bias.

What’s confirmation bias?

Russ’ actions were influenced by confirmation bias. A common thinking mistake, it’s the tendency to overvalue data and observation that fits with, or confirms, our existing beliefs. While it seems obvious enough to avoid, confirmation bias is a particularly sinister kind of bias, because it affects not just intellectual or political debates, but also our relationships, personal finances, and even our physical and mental health, according to Terry Heick, developer of the Cognitive Bias Codex.”

Here are seven other common thinking mistakes that can affect our relationships and workplaces:(3)

1. The Dunning-Kruger Effect

A cognitive bias in which individuals with a low level of knowledge in a particular subject mistakenly assess their knowledge or ability as greater than it is. If you know only a little about something, you see it simplistically—biasing you to believe that the concept is easier to comprehend than it may actually be. On the other hand, experts are often aware of what they don’t know and, in a sense, the more you know, the less confident you’re likely to be—not out of lacking knowledge, but due to caution.(3)

2. The Negativity Bias

While we like to win, we hate to lose even more. So, when we make a decision, we generally think in terms of outcomes – either positive or negative. The bias comes into play when we irrationally weigh the potential for a negative outcome as more important than that of the positive outcome.(3)

3. Self-serving Bias

Have you ever failed an exam because your teacher hates you, and then go in the following week and ace the next one because you studied extra hard despite that teacher? Then you’ve engaged the self-serving bias. We attribute successes and positive outcomes to our doing when things go right; but, when we face failure and negative outcomes, we tend to attribute these events to other people or contextual factors outside ourselves.(3)

4. The Curse of Knowledge and Hindsight Bias

Once you (truly) understand a new piece of information, that piece of information is now available to you and often becomes seemingly obvious. It might be easy to forget that there was ever a time you didn’t know this information and so, you assume that others, like yourself, also know this information.(3)

5. Optimism/Pessimism Bias

We have a tendency to overestimate the likelihood of positive outcomes, particularly if we are in good humor, and to overestimate the likelihood of negative outcomes if we are feeling down or have a pessimistic attitude.(3)

6. The Backfire Effect

This refers to the strengthening of a belief even after it has been challenged. Because we don’t like change and don’t want to be perceived as wrong, we may hold on tighter than ever before to an idea.

7. In-group Bias

This bias refers to the unfair favoring of someone from one’s own group. We might think we’re unbiased, impartial and fair, but we all succumb to this bias. This bias can be considered an advantage—favoring and protecting those similar to us, particularly with respect to kinship and the promotion of one’s own group.(3)

Awareness does not guarantee a change in behavior

There is no quick fix for unconscious bias. Pamela Newkirk, New York University professor and author of Diversity, Inc writes:

“Quick fixes like unconscious bias training or climate surveys—no matter how expertly administered—cannot begin to address, let alone repair, the damage of centuries of demeaning images of racial, ethnic and religious minorities still perpetuated in film, on television, in advertising, news outlets, on museum walls, public iconography, and, indeed at every level of our educational system.”(4)

In some cases, unconscious bias training has increased defensiveness, reinforced stereotypes, and contributed to stonewalling in organizations, all of which has ultimately been expressed through anger and resentment.(5)

Unconscious bias training alone can backfire, but there’s a solution: the development of cultural intelligence.

Cultural intelligence does change behavior. It’s the ability to recognize and appreciate another’s perspective and adapt our behavior to show genuine respect toward different cultural practices and perspectives.

So how can a leader develop an organization’s cultural intelligence and lessen the impact of unconscious bias in their organization?

What’s a leader to do?

If you’re reading this blog, you care about equality in your organization. As the leader, you have enormous insight and expertise about how the organization works for people like you. So you can:

1. Recognize that equality or “fairness” is one of the most powerful shared beliefs in American culture—that belief that everyone should have a fair shot at life and be rewarded for what they’ve achieved.(6)
2. Learn what it’s like for people who are different from you and make sure they have a positive experience in the organization.
3. Hold monthly Listening Circles(7).
4. Model the understanding that we all have different experiences,
5. Encourage colleagues to listen and get more information rather than making and acting on assumptions about people’s experience.

What happened with Russ?

The next day I ran into Russ.

Russ: “Guess what?! I’ve got good news. I called the restaurant.”

Amy: “Cool! So, what happened?

Russ: “I asked to speak with the manager. When she came on the line, I told her what happened. She told me that the store was in the middle of a turnaround and that she needed more evidence to make her case that customer service needed to improve. She told me she would start working with the teenagers today. She said she was grateful I called and wanted me to come back to the restaurant and have dinner on them. You know, I wouldn’t have called if you hadn’t encouraged me.”

Amy: “I’m glad I could help. Though I made a suggestion; you were the one with the courage to call and find out more information. Well done!”

Russ: Thank you.

What we know now

Half of publicly traded companies in the United States have held some variation of unconscious bias training; however, unconscious bias training without cultural intelligence does not guarantee a change in behavior for the better. To be effective, training must matter to the people at the top. And then without shame or blame, organizations can train their employees to see how unconscious bias inadvertently hinders productive conversations and actions. To work, employees need to be offered the opportunity to be empowered to engage in compassionate, respectful and regular cross-cultural conversations, thus, increasing productivity, collaboration, and innovation for everyone in the organization.  –Amy S. Narishkin, PhD

References:

1. Banaji, M. & Greenwald, A. (2013) Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People. New York: Delacorte Press.
2. Heick, T. (Oct 14, 2019) Teach Thought. “The cognitive bias codex: A visual of 180+ cognitive biases.” https://www.teachthought.com/critical-thinking/the-cognitive-bias-codex-a-visual-of-180-cognitive-biases/
3. Dwyer, C. (Sept 7, 2018) Psychology Today. “12 common biases that affect how we make everyday decisions.” https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/thoughts-thinking/201809/12-common-biases-affect-how-we-make-everyday-decisions
4. Newkirk, P. (2019) Diversity, Inc., New York: Bold Type Books.
5. Storey, S. (Jan 15, 2017) Huffington Post. “Unconscious bias—making millions from theory.” https://www.huffpost.com/entry/unconscious-bias-making-m_b_8771258
6. Zheng, L. (October 28, 2019) Harvard Business Review. “How to show white men that diversity and inclusion efforts need them.” https://hbr.org/2019/10/how-to-show-white-men-that-diversity-and-inclusion-efforts-need-them
7. Itzchakov, G & Kluger, A. (May 17, 2018) Organizational Dynamics. “The listening circle: A simple tool to enhance listening and reduce extremism among employees.” https://www.academia.edu/33365678/IN_PRESS_The_Listening_Circle_A_Simple_Tool_to_Enhance_Listening_and_Reduce_Extremism_Among_Employees
8. Narishkin, A (2020) Hear Me Now? https://www.empoweringpartners.com/2020/01/hear-me-now/

“So, does this mean you don’t report people who are breaking the rules?” a CEO asked. The question was prompted by an NBC News report: ”An author reported a Metro worker for eating on a train. Now she might lose her book deal.”

The author in the headline, Natasha Tynes saw a uniformed Metro worker eating on the subway train, even though Metro rules state that eating is not allowed on trains. Tynes confronted the Metro worker who then told her to mind her own business.

Tynes posted a shaming tweet with the Metro worker’s picture on Twitter. Other Twitter users replied saying that Metro workers don’t really get time for meals, creating a backlash against the author. Despite the fact that she apologized and deleted the Tweet, Tynes’ publisher saw the backlash and canceled her book deal.

Both Tynes and the Metro worker are people of color. The irony is that, in this new media environment of ours, a misstep can destroy a person’s livelihood. To understand why and how this situation became so destructive, we need more information about how people can effectively navigate cross-cultural conversations.

Background information

In a previous blog post, “There’s Nothing Common About Vocabulary,” I explored how developing a common vocabulary builds trust and shared-understanding, which leads to greater collaboration, productivity and innovation in an organization. I explained that one of the best ways to develop a common vocabulary is for a leader to start with the Intercultural Development Inventory® (IDI®) developed by Dr. Mitch Hammer.

The IDI, a 50-item on-line inventory, assesses an individual and group’s ability to effectively navigate cross-cultural conversations. This is done by measuring five core mindsets and associated behaviors for engaging diversity and creating an inclusive environment. The five core mindsets include: Denial, Polarization, Minimization, Acceptance or Adaptation.(2)

Five stages of cultural intelligence

The early stages of Denial and Polarization are mono-cultural mindsets.

1. People and groups in Denial are committed to their own cultural values and practices and may not notice biases and deeper cultural patterns. When Denial is present in the workplace, people from diverse backgrounds often feel ignored.(2)
2. People and groups in Polarization tend to be overly critical of cultural differences from an “us versus them” viewpoint. When Polarization is present in the workplace employees hear phrases like, “this is how we do things around here.” As a result, people can feel uncomfortable because cultural differences are seen as an obstacle or inferior.(2)

A mono-cultural mindset produces an assimilationist approach to staffing where minority talent is expected to fit into a workplace largely defined by the dominant cultural group. In that kind of workplace, assimilation can take the form of “sink or swim” for new hires. Leaders with this mindset typically assume new hires can figure out how things are done in an organization, “just like they did.” This can have negative consequences; individuals with diverse backgrounds can be left feeling ignored and uncomfortable, experiencing a sense of bias because their contributions go unrecognized.(2)

Minimization is the transitional stage from a mono-cultural to a multicultural mindset.

3. People and groups in Minimization value commonalities and de-emphasize difference, resulting in a lack of deeper understanding of cultural differences. With a Minimization mindset, leadership tends to use a universalist approach by focusing on the elimination of bias through common policies that assure equal opportunity for all. While this can improve cross-cultural relationships, this mindset does not value diverse perspectives or how to bridge across cultural differences. As a result, minority perspectives and experiences are typically not fully heard, impacting collaboration and innovation.(2)

The later stages of Acceptance and Adaptation are multicultural or global mindsets that support cross-cultural understanding.

4. People and groups in Acceptance are curious about and interested in cultural differences. However, they can be unclear about how to appropriately adapt their words and behaviors to cultural differences. When Acceptance is present, people with diverse backgrounds feel “understood.”(2)
5. People and groups in Adaptation can appreciate different perspectives and adapt their words and behavior to another’s cultural context. When Adaptation is present in an organization people feel valued and engaged. Domestic and international diversity are valued as resources for multicultural team effectiveness and everyone is seen as a source of cultural intelligence.(2)

What can be done differently

The mindset of Adaptation, or a willingness to understand the complexity of the Metro worker’s situation and the ability to adapt one’s words to appreciate another’s cultural context, was missing in the Twitter interchange. Had they applied cultural intelligence, the author, Metro worker and publisher all would have done better.

• When the author saw the Metro worker, instead of making it public on Twitter, she could have gone quietly to the Metro authorities and shared her observation that the organization doesn’t appear to have a good plan for a meal breaks for their workers.
• The Metro worker could have said, “I get 20 minutes to eat on my meal breaks in transit and it’s not enough time. I’d appreciate if you’d speak up on my behalf.”
• Tyne’s publisher did the very thing online trolls accused the author of doing to the Metro worker: threatening and possibly destroying her livelihood. Rather than reacting, the publisher and author could have collaborated on how to respond compassionately to the Metro worker and her situation.
• The Twitter users who centered the backlash against Tynes assumed that, because the Metro worker is a person of color, the rules don’t apply – or perhaps assumed Tynes wasn’t a person of color and was being racist. For whatever their reason, they amplified their own assumptions. They too could have slowed down and learned more about the situation before contributing to the domino reaction of shame, blame and punish.

We need to recognize the charge of delight we get from “being right” and feeling “superior.” That feeling can lead us to act on snap judgements, victimizing others and jeopardizing our own wellbeing online.

After getting caught up in the rush of being right, we get defensive when we learn we were out of line. Being alert and practicing cultural intelligence, we can notice the impetus to get caught up in such feelings; we can instead slow down and consider the impact of our actions. We can ask ourselves: Is this for the greater good or just meeting a personal need?

What a leader can do

Along with utilizing the IDI® to assess our organization’s ability to navigate cross-cultural conversations, here are a few questions a leader can reflect on to determine if there is a need for more cultural intelligence:

• How many people with different backgrounds have been hired across senior leadership, management and staff?
• What areas of the organization are less diverse than others?
• Are opportunities for continuous learning that builds cultural intelligence offered, particularly for building cultural self-awareness and awareness of the cultures being served in our marketplace?
• Have learning experiences resulted in conversational and behavioral change so that everyone involved benefits?
• Does affinity bias show up in hiring decisions?
• What patterns of attrition do you see in the organization and what’s happening in those areas?

Many people don’t realize that two-thirds of people who take the Intercultural Development Inventory® world-wide are unknowingly stuck in the middle stage of Minimization. As a result, there is often strong pressure for people with diverse perspectives to conform to the dominant culture, which can result in people feeling unheard and excluded, and productivity and innovation getting blocked. And ultimately, those conditions can affect the bottom line.

But when an organization intentionally embraces the perspective of alternative cultural views and actively attempts to increase the repertoire of cultural vocabulary and behavior, domestic and international cultural differences are seen and used as an asset for the organization as a whole.

References

1. By Janelle Griffith (May 12, 2019) “An author reported a Metro worker for eating on a train. Now she might lose her book deal, ” NBC News: https://apple.news/ADXd72a8SQOGONMxgNIj41w
2. Hammer, M. (2016) Intercultural Development Inventory Resource Guide. Olney, MD: IDI, LLC.