Beware the GI Joe Fallacy: Biases and DEI Training Tips

Beware of G.I. Joe and his fallacy.......

In ZEN Coaching's recent work with Infogrid on Interviewer Skills we spent some time looking at interviewer biases, what they are and of course, what to do to mitigate their effects. One thing that was mentioned that we feel needs highlighting is the GI Joe Fallacy. This is something to consider for all biases and DEI training too.

Simply put, it's the belief that merely knowing about something is enough to change behaviour. In this context, it's the belief that merely knowing you tend to exhibit certain biases when interviewing is enough to stop you exhibiting them. Well, it helps, but it doesn't change the behaviour on its own or even come close.

With that in mind, the steps you take to mitigate bias become even more important. They include:

- Diverse panels, to put checks and balances on each other and also average out bias

- Not conferring until each interviewer has completed their notes

- Using structured interviewing and a detailed, specific set of competencies to measure against

So beware of GI Joe, he can't do it all on his own.

#interviewing#bias#learninganddevelopment#coaching

Beware of GI Joe fallacy in Interviewer, Biases and DEI Training