Your brain is not wired for fairness, but your processes can be...

Most of us like to think we're fair-minded. Most leaders I work with genuinely believe they hire and promote based on merit – their favourite articulation is: "I always hire the best person for the job."

But here's the thing: our brains weren't built for fairness. They were built for speed - and for safety.

What does that mean?

Our brains evolved to keep us safe - not to make us fair

Imagine you're standing at a busy road crossing, the cars are whizzing by, and you're waiting for the lights to change so it's safe to cross. Someone beside you starts to step out before the light changes. You instinctively reach out and stop them, without thinking it through consciously.

That's your brain doing what it's designed to do: respond quickly to potential risk. It's scanning for cues, drawing on past experiences, and acting fast to keep you safe.

That same shortcutting also happens in the workplace. When reviewing CVs (aka resumes), deciding who to promote, or assessing someone's performance, our brains are still looking for the familiar, the comfortable, the safe. And that's where bias creeps in.

Bias isn't about being a bad person - it's about being a person

We all have biases, conscious and unconscious. That's not a flaw in our character - it's just how the brain works. But understanding that is step one. Step two is designing ways to make fairer decisions despite that.

Here are just a few examples of how bias can show up at work:

• Affinity Bias – We favour people who remind us of ourselves – same school, background, and previous employer.

• Halo and Horns Effect – A first impression can colour everything that comes after – no automatic second or third chances.

• Confirmation Bias – We notice what supports our beliefs, and filter out what doesn't, making it difficult to see contradictory perspectives

• Recency Bias – We give too much weight to what happened most recently, making it almost impossible to judge a year's worth of performance accurately.

• Groupthink – We self-censor to keep the peace, staying silent when we disagree with the majority opinion, especially if it's the boss!

• Blind Spot Bias – We spot bias in others, but not in ourselves.

And these biases don't just affect hiring or promotion or other people processes — they can also impact strategy, innovation, and team dynamics.

What can we do about it?

We put structure around our decisions. That might look like using rubrics for hiring or adding calibration to performance reviews. It could mean inviting challenges into team meetings or asking: 

What evidence did I use to make that call?

The point is: you don't have to rely on willpower to be fair. 

You can design for it.

And you can start small - by getting curious about the voices you listen to, the perspectives you seek out, and the assumptions you hold.  By asking yourself, would I make the same decision if X were a man, or white, or non-disabled…. etc.

You may not be able to eliminate bias entirely. But you can interrupt it - and that's where progress starts.

And beyond being the right thing to do, it makes smart business sense.  This is the secret sauce that makes diverse teams work together – an understanding that they will be included regardless of how they might be different to the boss.

So here's the challenge: where will you start?

One decision. One meeting. One moment where you put structure around the shortcut.
Because designing for fairness isn't just good practice - it's good business.

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