Importance of understanding unconscious bias in category management

We always ask Category Managers and Marketing Managers too how often they acknowledge and reflect on unconscious bias and how it can affect the decisions that they take.

When we start category strategy projects - one of the first things we help teams with, is to understand and reflect on their unconscious bias.

This enables category and commercial teams to open up their thinking - and open up the possibilities and opportunities too!

What is unconscious bias?
* On average, our brains take in 11 million pieces of information a second
* But they only capture 50, and process just 7 pieces of information
* So our brains make snap decisions in our subconscious based on
•Our background
•Our life experience
•Societal context
•Cultural context

Most of the time we don't acknowledge or recognise those influences, instead thinking we've made a well evaluated, rational decision!

Once we know our biases, it becomes a lot easier to park them and step outside of our own frame of reference, which opens up all sorts of opportunities - exactly the type of thinking needed for strategic projects!

We have lots of tools and techniques to help teams open up their thinking, so let us know if you'd like any ideas (you never know, they might surprise you 😉 )