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Recognizing and addressing unconscious bias and the effect it has on physicians and healthcare teams is one of the most serious leadership challenges today.
last year we all had front row seats to witness a social justice moment that's been fulminating for decades. We saw the shocking stories of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and wondered how many similar stories are never told.
These are worst-case outcomes of unconscious biases. Some of these biases are personal and many are systemic. Physician leaders have a responsibility to familiarize themselves with racial bias and other unconscious biases, as it is the first important step in changing the world around us, one encounter at a time.
First, let's begin with a definition. The University of California, San Francisco, Office of Diversity and Outreach defines unconscious biases this way:
"Unconscious biases are social stereotypes about certain groups of people that individuals from outside of their own conscious awareness. Everyone holds unconscious beliefs about various social and identity groups, and these biases stem from one's tendency to organize social worlds by categorizing people. "1
Once we understand what unconscious bias is, we begin to realize that the organizational risks that come with unconscious biases are serious. Almost everything can be affected: hiring, meetings, teamwork, culture, performance reviews, innovation, promotions, consensus-building, and much more. The easiest way to see unconscious bias is to look for its effects and outcomes.
EFFECT ON HEALTHCARE PERFORMANCE AND PROFITABILITY
Progressive leaders have many admirable and important reasons to work on limiting the effect of unconscious bias in their organizations. One of the best reasons is performance. Studies have shown again and again that diverse companies perform better.
One of the most concise and compelling reports on this topic was produced by the CEB Corporate Leadership Council.2 The results were conclusive. Here's a summary:
When employees view their workplaces as diverse and inclusive, the organization's profits exceed those of their nondiverse competitors. Here are the numbers:
* 1.12x more discretionary effort;
* 1.19x greater intent to stay with organization;
* 1.57x more collaboration among teams; and
* 1.42x greater team commitment.
The bottom line is that diversity is a performance accelerant, and unconscious bias is diversity's most powerful enemy.
How is unconscious bias evident in...