Unconscious bias affects every area of our lives. Unconsciously, we tend to like people who look like us, think like us and come from backgrounds similar to ours. Everyone likes to think he or she is open-minded and objective, but research has shown that the beliefs and values gained from family, culture and a lifetime of experiences heavily influence how we view and evaluate both others and ourselves.

These thought patterns, assumptions and interpretations – or biases – we have built up over time help us to process information quickly and efficiently. From a survival standpoint, bias is a positive and necessary trait. In business, however, bias can be costly. It can cause us to make decisions that are not objective; and ultimately we miss opportunities

The really interesting thing is that if you ask people to self report before an IAT assessment, I can guarantee that they’ll say they are not racist or discriminatory in anyway. Leaders are often surprised by the output of the IAT tests but one shouldn’t beat yourself by this and take this as a step to been more aware of you biases.

Testing, at the very least, provides us with information about our biases so;

Try it now…..