Affinity Bias

Domain: Self Awareness - Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Years ago, during my morning walks, I found myself spending an inordinate amount of time at one desk than any other. The guy who sat at this desk was a contractor on one of my teams, and reported to one of my directs.

He also happened to be a hockey fan. This is why I was spending more time at his desk than anyone else's. We were talking hockey.

This went on for about a month before I realized the unintended perception this might carry. If he was hired-on permanently, there could be a perception that he was hired for a shared interest with upper management and not solely for the value he brought to the team.

These scenarios play out all the time in the workplace. You may have heard it referred to as affinity bias or similarity bias and it's the tendency to favor people who share similar interests, backgrounds and experiences as us. Even phrases like "culture fit" are often a red flag for affinity bias.

Maybe it's hiring and promoting people who went to the same school or share similar interests.

Maybe it's mentoring someone who reminds you of yourself.

Whatever it is, if left unchecked, it robs your team of different and valuable perspectives. Even if decisions are not made based on the bias, it has the potential to create a perception of favoritism which can kill morale.

We've talked about conformity bias before. Affinity bias can be upstream of this. The more you have in common with a person (especially someone that reports to you) the more likely they are to agree with you. This combination can create a dangerous echo chamber.

With all of that in mind, here are some actions you can take to reduce the impacts of affinity bias in your role…

Identify

The first step in understanding any unconscious bias is self-reflection. The point is not determining whether you have biases. You do. We all do. The point of the reflection is to identify what your main biases are and how they might be showing-up in your behaviors and decisions.

This can be difficult work but it's worth it. I recommend a combination of the following approaches…

• Tools like Harvard's Project Implicit can be good way to explore these topics if you're not sure where to start.

• Take an objective look at your team. Do they all look like you. Do a majority of them have the same skills. Or are they from the same school? Maybe they all have a "direct" communication style similar to yours.

• Finally, simply being mindful and conscious of your behavior can sometimes be enough to spot it. This was the case in my example with the morning hockey talks.

Mentoring others

Who you choose to mentor matters. There is often a strong inclination to mentor those similar to us. We've heard the cliché of a mentor commenting that their mentee "reminds me of me when I was just starting out".

It may sound nostalgic but it can be a dangerous way to approach mentorship. Instead, actively seek people who are significantly different than you but still might benefit from your experience and perspective.

You'll both grow more as a result of working with someone who brings a vastly different viewpoint and set of skills.

Your own mentor

Who you choose to be mentored by also matters. It's worth making sure that your own mentor or coach provides a unique and different perspective from yours.

Having such a diverse sounding board is a great way for combatting affinity bias going forward as it ensures you have access to someone who is able and willing to help you see big decisions in a new light.

Seeking different perspectives

For big decisions like hiring, promoting and project prioritization, consider bringing-in additional individuals for a broader view. Of course, it should go without saying that those additional perspectives should be different than your own.

For hiring, you might consider panel interviews.

For promotions, I always recommend running group succession planning meetings.

For project prioritization, gather a diverse group of leaders who have a clear alignment to the organization's mission. Leverage their input to make sure the right things are getting attention.

In each of these scenarios, the decision will still be yours to make. You are simply inviting input from others to reach a more thoughtful and well-rounded outcome.

Thank you for reading. My hope is always that you've found something helpful and easy to implement. If you have feedback, suggestions or questions, please reply to this email.

If you are interested in exploring one-on-one coaching to transform your leadership, email me at [email protected] and we’ll coordinate a free, one-hour discovery session.

This week’s action items:

1. Leverage a combination of assessments, team data and personal observation to identify your own biases.

2. Make sure you are seeking out people different from yourself when choosing someone to mentor.

3. Similarly, make sure your own mentor or coach offers a perspective vastly different from yours.

4. Invite diverse collaborators to provide input on your next big decision.