Categorization is universal. With so much information and stimuli coming our way, the brain’s instinct is to sort it quickly and efficiently. These shortcuts are helpful when deciding important things like what might be dangerous or even little things like what breakfast cereal to buy. But when our brains use shortcuts to categorize people based on surface traits, it’s called unconscious or implicit bias. These biases, when unexamined, can lead to stereotyping and discrimination—ultimately harming productivity, morale, and retention at work. 

We’re all biased in some way. Recognizing why our brain categorizes and why this categorization can be harmful when applied to other humans is the first step to breaking free from implicit bias.

You can think of implicit bias as a lens that distorts our view of society—a product of our brains' architecture and the disparities in our society.

No one is immune from bias, and biases don’t make us “bad”—they make us human. We’re programmed to make snap decisions based on perceived similarities or differences from ourselves. Still, we don’t have to let those instincts limit us. The first step to overcoming our unconscious biases is to examine where they show up in life. 

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