Quick Decision Making is the Enemy of DEI

Oct 15 / Loren Phillips

Quick decisions lack cognitive diversity

When we think of diversity, people naturally think of ethnic and racial diversity, but there is a different type of diversity that is less commonly addressed, and that is a diversity of thought. We know that diverse teams perform better, and one of the reasons for doing so is because they exhibit a variety of views and opinions, which, in the right environment, allows teams to test various hypotheses and come up with the best route forward which leads to better outcomes.
When people make decisions quickly, they generally rely on their own assumptions to power those decisions, as speedy decision making doesn’t allow the time to share and probe these assumptions or test their validity.

Quick decisions can be less fair

Equity is the quality of being fair and impartial. People can be mindful of fairness and impartiality; however, the human brain can’t navigate its own biases, no matter how conscious we are and deliberate our decision making is. The way towards fairness and impartiality, which may be a myth when it comes to decision making, is to bring on various diverse viewpoints to counter the effects of our own bias. Decisions made quickly fail to bring on multiple perspectives, so they cannot be truly equitable.

Quick decisions don't usually involve others

For a decision to be as swift as possible, there needs to be fewer people involved for practical reasons. As we know, involving others is the core of inclusivity, so it follows that quick decisions are also non-inclusive decisions.

So, what can we do about it?

The solution to incorporating true diversity, equity and inclusivity into our decisions making is first about letting go of the notion that fast decisions are good decisions. The next step involves allowing time for conversations to happen with diverse participants and being open to having our assumptions and viewpoints challenged in the interests of growth and refinement.

Slowing down has been one of the most challenging things for me to learn, and I would love to know what you think about introducing cognitive diversity to our decision making.

Created with

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. Learn more or accept individual cookies.

Necessary

Necessary cookies (First Party Cookies) are sometimes called "strictly necessary" as without them we cannot provide the functionality that you need to use this website. For example, essential cookies help remember your preferences as you navigate through the online school.

Functional

During your interaction with this website, cookies are used to remember information you have entered or choices you make (such as your username or preferences for personalizing your account). These preferences are remembered, through the use of the persistent cookies, and the next time you use the Website you will not have to set them again.

Analytics

These cookies track information about visits to this Website so that we can make improvements and report our performance. For example: analyze User behavior so as to provide additional functionality or improve course contents. These cookies collect information about how visitors use the Website, which site or page they came from, the number of visits and how long a user stays on the Website.

Marketing

These cookies are used to deliver advertising materials relevant to you and your interests. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement as well as help measure the effectiveness of campaigns. They are usually placed by advertising networks we work with with our permission. They remember that you have visited a website and this information is shared with other organizations such as advertisers.