The cognitive illusion of debias training with Neil Lewis Jr.

PodcastApril 11, 2022
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What are you losing by taking that approach? How long do you plan to be around? If the world is changing, the composition of the world is changing, your customer base is changing, the governments and other clients you're working with are changing and you are not keeping up, how long do you plan to be in business?

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Intro

In this episode of the podcast, Brooke is joined by Neil Lewis Jr., behavioral scientist and assistant professor of communication and social behavior at Cornell University. Drawing from his research, as well as his vast experience advising organizations, Neil offers fascinating insights into how employees and managers can drive more equitable outcomes in their organizations, and why it makes good business sense to do so. 

Some of the topics discussed include:

  • The persistence of so-called ‘invisible segregation’ in society and steps we can take to recognize it.
  • The ways organizations typically go about debiasing, and how they can be more effective.
  • The importance of employee buy-in, incentive alignment, and the structure of organizational processes to support the pursuit of equitable outcomes.
  • Common challenges in diversity strategies and ways to overcome them.
  • How to address inequality in your organization and why it makes good commercial sense to do so.

About the Guest

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Neil Lewis Jr.

Neil Lewis Jr. is a behavioral scientist who studies how social interventions and policies can change behaviors to promote equitable outcomes in society. Lewis is an assistant professor of communication and social behavior at Cornell University, and assistant professor of communication research in medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. He also co-directs Cornell’s Action Research Collaborative. 

Lewis’ research examines how people’s social contexts and identities influence how they make sense of the world around them, and the implications of those meaning-making processes for their motivation to pursue different goals in life. He is interested in the consequences of these processes not only for individuals, but also for the communities and societies those individuals are embedded in; he is particularly interested in the educational, health, and environmental consequences for individuals and societies.

Outside of academia, Lewis is a publicly engaged scholar and science communicator. He writes about the application of social and behavioral science research in policy and practice at FiveThirtyEight and other mass media outlets. He also works closely with policymakers on efforts to put science into practice to address pressing societal issues. Lewis’s work has been recognized by numerous awards and honors, including: the Janet Taylor Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions from the Association for Psychological Science, the SAGE Young Scholar Early Career Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and Cornell’s Research and Extension Award for Outstanding Accomplishments in Science and Public Policy.

About the Interviewer

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Dr. Brooke Struck

Dr. Brooke Struck is the Research Director at The Decision Lab. He is an internationally recognized voice in applied behavioural science, representing TDL’s work in outlets such as Forbes, Vox, Huffington Post and Bloomberg, as well as Canadian venues such as the Globe & Mail, CBC and Global Media. Dr. Struck hosts TDL’s podcast “The Decision Corner” and speaks regularly to practicing professionals in industries from finance to health & wellbeing to tech & AI.

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