Hidden assumptions—"unconscious bias"—aren't something to eliminate, but rather something to become aware of.

Haven't you been hearing the term "unconscious bias" a lot lately?

Dentsu Inc. Diversity Lab (DDL) has developed "Unbash Dialogue," an experiential corporate training program focused on unconscious bias.

Its key feature is "role-play," where participants actually take on various roles, incorporating stage direction methods.

This time, DDL member Rumi Eguchi introduces the concept of unconscious bias and the purpose of the training .

<Table of Contents>
▼Why is the concept of unconscious bias gaining attention today?
▼ How to deal with unconscious bias, which is "just a given"
▼ Introducing the "Unbash Dialogue" Training Program: Learning Through Role-Playing

Why is the concept of unconscious bias gaining attention in today's world?

Humans harbor various "hidden assumptions." Invisible elements like another person's attributes or thoughts are often "assumptions" we interpret and construct within ourselves.

The term "unconscious bias" has been gradually gaining traction since around 2018.

While it's often translated as "unconscious prejudice," we at DDL believe the Japanese term "hidden assumptions" better captures its essential nuance.

So what kinds of "assumptions" actually exist? Let's look at some concrete examples.

A supervisor tells a female employee with children, "Since you have kids, I'll ask someone else to handle the business trip."

We can assume this statement stems from thoughtfulness and consideration. However, within this seemingly kind phrase,

"Housework and childcare should be the mother's role"
"Female employees with children must be too busy with childcare to want to travel"

— do you recognize the unconscious biases underlying these assumptions?

And the feelings recipients have about this consideration are not uniform either.

Some might think, "Childcare is tough, so this is a huge help! Thank goodness..."

While others might feel:

"This is my project, I want to see it through to the end..."
"My husband helps with childcare, so it's not an issue..."

These hidden assumptions within ourselves – "I'm sure it's like this " – are unconscious biases. Communicating without recognizing these biases, even with good intentions, can leave the recipient feeling dissatisfied.

Especially in business, unconscious bias can hinder women's advancement, impede communication, and lower motivation.

It has become an issue that must be addressed.

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In communication, unconsciously assuming things like "This person must be like this" or "They're probably thinking this anyway" is something that has likely existed throughout human history.

The concept of "unconscious bias" itself was established and gained significant attention around the year 2000. It has been studied as a necessary concept, particularly in Silicon Valley, USA, a society where diverse races, professions, and religions intersect.

The catalyst for this concept gaining global attention was the unconscious bias training on racial discrimination conducted by Starbucks in May 2018.

The incident began when disparities in customer service based on race were discovered at Starbucks stores. Crucially, the issue wasn't "malicious, conscious discrimination," but rather "unintentional discrimination stemming from unconscious biases." In response, Starbucks decided to temporarily close all its stores across the United States.

Statement from Howard Schultz, Chairman of Starbucks
https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2018/an-open-letter-to-starbucks-customers-from-howard-schultz/

During the closures, training was conducted for over 170,000 employees to examine the biases that lie deep within human consciousness. This became a topic in the news, marking the first step for many people in learning about the concept of "unconscious bias" – a natural part of human consciousness, existing neither out of good nor bad intent.

Now, unconscious bias isn't something found only in certain people; it's something that exists within all of us. We've all likely experienced strained relationships or work mistakes caused by well-meaning assumptions.

At DDL, which focuses on diversity and inclusion, we've also focused on unconscious bias as part of our efforts to build a society that leverages diverse individuality. We've continuously explored ways to communicate this awareness to more people.

How to Deal with Unconscious Bias, Something We All Have

The cross-border worker project with SoftBank sparked the creation of a team within DDL dedicated to confronting unconscious bias.

Let's rewind a bit and explain how the team examining unconscious bias came to be within DDL. In fact, it involved a long planning period of over two years.

The original catalyst was the 2018 "Cross-Border Workers" project (※), a joint initiative between Dentsu Inc. and SoftBank. While exploring actions to build a society that leverages diverse individuality as "value," we encountered the term "unconscious bias" and began confronting this concept.

※Cross-Border Workers
An open project where participating companies mutually accept employees to tackle challenges. Dentsu Inc. and SoftBank, connected by their proximity as headquarters locations, integrated employees from the other company into their respective internal project teams to work on solving problems.

What exactly is unconscious bias? Why do we want to spread awareness about it? What do we want to spread?

Initially, we thought:

"Unconscious bias is a bad thing."
"Let's create training to teach people about unconscious bias and get them to stop it."

However, as we gathered materials and held numerous discussions, a question arose within the

However, as we gathered materials and held numerous discussions, a question arose within the team:

"Is unconscious bias fundamentally just 'bad'?"

In many cases, unconscious bias is treated like sexual harassment, power harassment, or racial discrimination—

"something that should be eliminated."

However, the more we discussed it as a team, the more we realized unconscious bias is

"something necessary for human survival"
"something we possess instinctively."

We've come to understand that it's impossible to eliminate it completely, and that trying to force its eradication might create other obstacles.

Now, let's revisit the earlier example.

"Since you have children, I'll ask someone else to handle the business trip."

This statement reflects the assumption "Since you have children, it must be tough for female employees," but it also conveys consideration and thoughtfulness. In fact, in the earlier example, some people actually felt grateful, thinking, "I'm relieved I don't have to go on that business trip because I need to take care of my child."

If we label all unconscious biases as "bad things that must be eliminated," then this boss would be "correct" for giving the same instructions without considering gender or personal circumstances. However, that approach wouldn't make the world better; it would likely increase other frustrations and problems.

What we truly need to improve is

"the fact that we possess unconscious biases"

but rather

"ending communication without recognizing the possibility of each other's unconscious biases."

We've come to believe this is the real issue.

If everyone becomes aware that "I must have unconscious biases too" and can consciously acknowledge them,

• the speaker might think... "Let me check before jumping to conclusions."
• and the receiver might think... "I might be misunderstood, so I should clarify."

Such scenarios would increase, leading to more dynamic communication.

Incidentally, unconscious bias isn't a concept limited to interpersonal communication. In innovation too, hidden assumptions often hinder possibilities.

Unconscious biases are at work in various business scenarios, such as planning new projects, product development, and sales. The hidden assumptions that many people take for granted and never question can also act as a brake on new ideas.

In other words, recognizing and being mindful of your own unconscious biases should not only improve relationships but also spark new business ideas and discoveries.

Join the "Unbash Dialogue" training program, where you learn through role-playing.

&nbsp;Numerous unconscious bias check tests and training programs exist. Most frame unconscious bias as negative and focus on "eliminating" these assumptions.

Furthermore, corporate training programs primarily target executives and managers, focusing on perspectives like "how to interact with subordinates" and providing guidance on "how to handle situations like this."

However, DDL views unconscious bias as encompassing not only negative but also positive elements. Furthermore, it is something possessed by everyone, not just those in higher positions.

Therefore, we concluded that the optimal way to disseminate this concept is through training accessible to everyone, regardless of whether they are new hires or veterans.

After exploring various approaches, we discovered "Theater Learning" – a workshop-style training format utilizing theatrical performance methods. With the cooperation of Ongakuza Musical, who pioneered this technique, we developed the "Unbash Dialogue" training program.

First, professional actors perform a skit. Participants then use this as a reference to try role-playing themselves. After the role-play, there is a reflection session among the participants, where they discuss:

"I thought it was like this, but the other person was actually thinking that?"

This naturally leads participants to recognize the existence of unconscious biases within themselves.

The experience of "realization" gained from pairing "role-play" with "reflection" proved surprisingly fresh and impactful, perfectly aligning with our vision of a "training program that influences participants' lives beyond the session."

Later, we brought in Japan Manpower, which possesses extensive corporate training expertise and connections, and released the " Unbaised Dialogue " training program through a three-company partnership.

I believe most unconscious bias training programs today were created as a "brake" against negativity. In contrast, we hope the Ambass Dialogue we developed can function as an "accelerator" for communication by shifting perspectives.

Next time, we'll share the journey of developing this training and its unexpectedly strong results through a conversation between Mutsumi Fujita of Ongakuza Musical and Ayaka Kaido of DDL!