How the socratic method can help us cut through confirmation bias

There is a big think video by Dr. Shali Tarot on why facts don't change people's minds. And ... what can help.  What she says works is exactly what I teach in my course – winning arguments without winning. The socratic method.


Here is the link for the article. https://bigthink.com/videos/tali-sharot-facts-dont-win-fights-heres-how-to-cut-through-confirmation-bias

Arguing facts - doesn't change people's minds. Facts, instead -  "polarizes groups of people even further, because of our in-built confirmation biases—something we all fall prey to, equally."

What does work?  Finding common motives. We do that - by asking questions to identify our areas of common agreement and then work from there to build up to a solution we all can agree on.

Yes, this works. Yes, it's very humanistic.  Yes - I teach how to do this.
https://humanistlearning.com/socratic-jujitsu/

Yes - it also comes in book form - https://humanistlearning.com/book-how-to-win-arguments-without-arguing/

Racial Discrimination in "the trades"

I was recently asked by a manager in the construction trades: how to help their black employees become more effective and productive. This is a good concern to have. Unfortunately - the reason the manager was having such problems - despite having good intentions and actively recruiting for diversity - was because her understanding of what the problem was - was coming from a place of bias and privilege.

People talk a lot about bias and privilege and people bristle when they are told about it. All that is being said is that - there is a blind spot and you don't really understand the problem because - of the blind spot. I am sharing with you this example - so that you can see how bias and privilege create those blind spots so you can recognize them and fix them.

Please keep in mind that while this example specifically comes out of the construction trades, this sort of blind spot problem occurs in all industries. To create more diverse workforces, we have to start overcoming our biases - so that we can solve the problems preventing our teams from becoming truly diverse.

First - the problem: 

This manager said her company wants diversity and they actively hire for it. But every black person they have hired either quits, or gets fired. As I asked her to explain the problem she was having in more detail, she said that the black employees just aren't getting as much work done as their white counter parts and when this is pointed out and attempts made to increase productivity so that they can get the amount of work done that is expected  - reasonably so because white employees are able to meet these standards - that their black employees get angry - talk about racism and quit. Those that don't quit - end up getting fired because they simply aren't as productive as the company needs them to be. She came to me to find out how she could help the black employees learn how to be more to be more productive.

(If you are black and reading this - please take a deep breathe and let me handle this. In fact - this may be triggering - so proceed with caution. I am sharing this - because this person is well meaning - but ... her assumptions - were preventing a fix).

Here is how she worded her problem:

"So, we have a rather diverse workforce, but we still don't have very many African-Americans working for us. They don't tend to stay long, as, individually, they seem to not have the work ethic to do well. If something specific doesn't happen, they are often let go if there's a slow-down in work because they aren't working as hard. But I'm wondering if it's a defense mechanism. I know people make terrible decisions as defense mechanisms - "Oh, they're just going to (do something to let me down). Why bother?"  I need help articulating this idea that African Americans can be reached, if you understand their underlying behaviors as defense mechanisms, and that they possibly can be coached out of those behaviors, if you see their point of view. And not being willing to meet them in their space is part of systemic racism. But honestly, I don't know where to start.

The manager's understanding of the problem was flawed. From her perspective - the problem was that the black employees just weren't as productive and for some reason  - she had no idea why - they just didn't work as hard as their white counterparts, so - she wanted to help train them on things like conscientiousness and time management etc - to help them be more productive and less defensive when attempts were made to help correct productivity problems. (deep breathes).

The problem is - their decreased productivity isn't necessarily caused by the employee. It could very well be - a symptom of something else. And as long as she focused on increasing productivity without actually addressing that something else - the situation was never going to improve.

Why biases matter: 

We all have biases and those biases cause us to make assumptions about the nature of the problem.  In this case - she was making assumptions about her employees - that they just didn't know how to be productive or worse - that they didn't want to be productive.

The best way to overcome bias - is to ask questions. In this case, the best way to find out why people are leaving and not working to the expected standards – is to ask them.  But that requires a willingness to listen and adjust behavior to make space for the person who is choosing to leave instead of deal with whatever it is they don’t like.  Often, the fixes are insanely simple – because it has to do with giving and showing respect in a way that is meaningful for the person feeling aggrieved.

If someone isn’t respected, they often do the minimum work required – in a passive aggressive way. This may be what she was seeing. It may not be. The question is – if this is what you are seeing – why are you all triggering this response? How can you stop triggering this response?

To get past this – the hiring manager needs to understand their role in the communication problem and how to get past it.  The starting assumption should be: these people are willing to work and are capable of working to the required standards, but for some reason aren’t. Why? It’s entirely possible the reason they aren’t is because they feel disrespected in the workplace. If that’s the case, this is a harassment, discrimination and communication problem.  It also means – their behavior may be a result of them not feeling safe.

There is recent work on psychological safety and it’s impact on team performance. https://hbr.org/2017/08/high-performing-teams-need-psychological-safety-heres-how-to-create-it

The problem in using this information is – the resistance to using it. It is very easy for team leaders to say – the work I have to do to create safe workplaces for marginalized people isn’t worth the effort when I can get another employee who doesn’t require that extra work. This is a management failure where the management failure is rationalized to blame the marginalized people. Her instincts on this needing to be addressed is correct.

The person that needs to address it and who has to want to address it are the managers. They have to be willing to find out what is happening on site or wherever - because it may not be the manager creating the bad environment. It may be and probably is the people they are working with day to day. But until or unless there is a willingness to REALLY listen and learn with the goal of helping these people succeed and stay – nothing will change.

Another possibility:

Another possibility is this: We know women aren’t respected and their ability to be productive is negatively impacted by men withholding information and resources they need to get their work done. The example I’m thinking of is the guy who used his female employees email address and suddenly – customers who respond right away to him – were withholding and it was taking him A LOT longer to get the same amount of work done – because his clients weren’t as forthcoming with him because he was suddenly female. It’s entirely possible that the employees - who are being deamed - not productive – are working their asses off and not getting as much done because – the people who they are working with – are withholding from them and slowing them down. But again – you won’t know – until they are asked.

My manager friend was making assumptions about the motivations of her employees and why they weren't as productive as she hoped they would be. The result was - her focus was on fixing what she thought was the problem - and not what the employees understand the problem to be.

The only way to fix what is wrong – is to have honest – open conversations to find out what exactly the employees in question are experiencing and why they are experiencing it so that you can fix the problems or help them work around what they are experiencing so they can actually be productive despite the fact they may have hurdles that other - white employees don't have.

This is where privilege comes in. White employees don't have to deal with racist customers and vendors. Black and brown employees do.  Racism - impacts productivity. It's silly to pretend otherwise. If you want to change this dynamic - you have to make space for and protect your black and brown and female employees so that they can be productive - despite the racism and sexism.

Bias, Stereotypes and Trust

How biases and stereotypes impact trust and how we can help make our workplaces more respectful and diverse.

I am going to share with you an article about some research that was done on middle school kids regarding stereotypes and trust. https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-02/sfri-fyo020117.php
 Kids, and people, notice when they aren’t being treated fairly and if happens repeatedly they lose trust in authority – for good reason.

"Youth of color enter middle school aware that majority groups could view them stereotypically," notes Valerie Purdie-Vaughns, associate professor of psychology at Columbia University, who coauthored the study. "But when teachers surprise them with an early experience that conveys that they are not being seen in terms of stereotypes, but rather respected, it creates trust and may set in motion a positive cycle of expectations."

The actionable intelligence for teachers is that going out of your way to express trust and that you don’t see them as a stereotype goes a LONG way towards establishing trust and that kids who experience social trust, have fewer problems.

The reason this is important to managers in the workplace is because, at some point, these kids grow up and enter the workforce. The same dynamics at play in the classroom exist in the workplace.

The big difference is that the biases are more ingrained at this point. Both on the part of the majority group seeing people stereotypically and on the part of minority groups who have spent their lives dealing with people who don’t respect them as fully human individuals.

It isn’t enough to talk a good talk about diversity.  If it were, we wouldn’t continue to have diversity problems.

In order to overcome these built in biases, we have to be proactive.  We have to go out of our way to recruit a diverse workforce. We have to go out of our way to express trust and respect. We have to go out of our way to build the relationships on which trust is built.

It isn’t enough to recruit in a diverse set of people. If they are not welcomed and respected and trusted, you will have problems in the workplace.

Fortunately, you can take proactive steps. Among those is learning about how implicit bias effects your decision making so that just maybe we can start hiring more truly diverse work forces. And we can also get training in how behaviors and corporate cultures are changed so that all of your staff can do a better job of making people feel like respected members of the team. And finally, training on how to stop harassment and bullying in the workplace, because seriously, there is nothing that screams disrespect more than being targeted by a bully and having your employer not do anything about it.

To learn more about how to help check out these courses:

• Unconvering & Controlling Your Hidden Biases - Free
• Ending Harassment & Retaliation in the Workplace - $35
• Bridging the Generation Divide - $35

Do hidden biases effect hiring decisions?

Yes, of course they do. We all have our biases. The question is: how can employers / hiring managers avoid letting those biases (whether based on race, gender, sexual orientation, or disability) get in the way of hiring qualified candidates?

What systems or HR practices can small-business owners put into place to keep them from letting biases affect their hiring practices and standards?

Uncovering and controlling your unconscious biasThere are actually free online tests you can take to uncover your hidden biases. Once you know what your unconscious biases are, you can work around them by consciously choosing to hire a person you would normally be biased against.

I have a free online program that goes into this subject with lessons and with links to the free online hidden bias testing websites. See:  https://humanistlearning.com/controlling-our-unconscious-bias/  We do offer self certification for the program if you need continuing education credits.

Random Selection

Another very easy thing to do is to choose your new hires randomly. I know this sounds kind of crazy. But there is science to it – see: http://humanisthappiness.blogspot.com/2014/11/randomness.html

Basically – when we don’t have a good reason to do something, we make up a reason – this is called rationalization. It turns out that decisions made this way are worse than making decisions by random chance or random selection. So if you are having trouble deciding on equally well qualified candidates - once you have vetted them as qualified - choose the one you hire randomly. Literally: pull their name out of a hat or something of that nature. This will help prevent you from introducing your bias into the hiring process through rationalization.

Random selection works in nature and it works in hiring too.

Affirmative Action

When you combine your awareness of your hidden biases with the knowledge that random selection actually works better than bad reasoning, this brings you to a word that has come to have negative associations and that is affirmative action.

It doesn’t matter if you are a small business owner or entrepreneur or even a seasoned hiring manager at a large firm, don’t be afraid of affirmative action. Affirmative action is a way to correct for your bias consciously. It’s not a legal hassle. What it is, is a reminder that you have to take affirmative action and consciously choose to hire people you wouldn’t normally hire because of your biases. Otherwise your biases will control your hiring decisions and your company will suffer as a result.

Diversity is good for your business and its good business. In order to get the benefit of diversity, you have to put some effort into. It won’t happen on its own. You have to make the effort to get out of your comfort zone and actively look for people who challenge your biases.  How often have we been told, oh – we just don’t have enough good women candidates to choose from or enough black candidates to choose from.  If you are saying that, the problem is – you aren’t actively looking for them.

Consider Yourself

To correct for your bias and achieve better results, you have to take affirmative action!!!!!!  If you aren’t willing to take affirmative action to get something done, then perhaps you aren’t suited for a position in leadership.

Hidden Biases

Biases influence our thinking. They steer us in certain directions and blind us to the truth. It’s worth understanding your biases so that you don’t get fooled by them.

We all have hidden or unconscious biases. We don’t know we have them because we aren’t conscious of them. These biases provide our gut reaction to people, places and things.

Bigotry is often rooted in these unconscious biases and even people who don’t think they are biases, may be discriminating against people without realizing it. And yes, there is quite a bit of science to back this up.

The more we can uncover our unconscious or hidden biases they more we can conscious choose to disregard them in our search for the truth.

The process of uncovering your hidden biases requires reflection and a willingness to learn how you might improve. With the help of Abe Markman of the NY Society for Ethical Culture, we created a free online program where you can learn more about the science of unconscious or hidden biases as well as take Harvard’s Implicit Bias tests so that you can learn what your biases really are.

This program will help you explore your own thinking so that you can control your hidden biases and stop allowing your unconscious fears to control you. To learn more or to access this free online resource visit:  https://humanistlearning.com/controlling-our-unconscious-bias/

Hiring Biases

We all have our biases, the problem is that our biases limit our options and that’s not a good thing.

Think Progress had an article title: “People can’t be trusted to make unbiased hiring decisions.”  (http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/05/13/3657911/unitive-hiring-bias/) This is pretty much true. Our baseline for who we trust – is ourselves so we look for other people like us. And that’s not good for business.

Diversity in the workplace is challenging, but it brings many benefits. The most important benefit being that your decision making processes are improved when you allow diverse viewpoints to weigh in. Diversity isn’t a cure for doing stupid things, but it helps. People who don’t think like you are more likely to tell you when you are being stupid, if you let them.

And to let them, you need to hire them. You have to word your advertisements in such a way as to not discourage certain individuals from applying. Your hiring process needs to not take into account someone’s protected status, which is actually really hard to do. And then you try to be equal and still – your workplace is not as diverse as it should be.

So we use tools to help us avoid our biases. One of these tools is the personality assessment, which is designed to help us eliminate bias. But the tests are biased. In fact, they are generally rated as a good test if their bias level is moderate instead of severe.  The argument for such flawed tests is that if the tests are less biased then regular human bias, it’s a move in the right direction towards less bias.  (See: http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_dismal_science/2009/03/testing_testing.html)

Companies who use personality tests should at least make sure that their tests are scientifically validated to reduce not only the bias, but to ensure that what you are testing for are actual personality traits. (https://humanistlearning.com/personalityassessments/)

So what is the solution to hiring bias?  How about adding in random selection. Once the basic criteria for hiring are met – choosing between equally qualified candidates, when done by humans, reintroduces human bias. There is research that shows having bad reasons for making a choice yields worse results than making a random choice. (http://humanisthappiness.blogspot.com/2014/11/randomness.html) So why not chose randomly if everything else is equal.