Unconscious Bias Modeling has skyrocketed over the past several years, becoming one of the top skill sets in today's diverse and complex organizations. Foresight is the most powerful tool in uncovering biases and assumptions, as well as changing mindsets among individuals and groups for greater productivity, creativity and transformational passion.

1. Interest in Unconscious Bias Modeling has skyrocketed
over the past decade, and for good reason. As the global
workforce become increasingly diversified and the speed
of change becomes more volatile, our internal blinders to
new people, information and ideas have kicked into
overdrive. Almost non-existent before 2010, “Unconscious
Bias” has now become one of the most searched for
business terms on the internet, and the number of
organizations training their employees to recognize and
manage their internal biases - as well as the consultancies
that are creating unconscious bias tools and processes -
are multiplying by the day. In a sea of approaches and
methods, how can businesses be sure that the training that
they choose will have a long-lasting impact on their
workforce and create a culture of diversity and open-
mindedness?
Since the 1950’s, the field of Strategic Foresight has
employed bias modeling as a means to exploring greater
productivity, insight and creativity across all disciplines. In
fact, an authentic application of foresight principles never
attempts to create strategy or facilitate change without
first creating a mindset of openness and awareness. Just as
futures thinking is vital to building insightful action in the
present, so bias modeling is a critical part of successful
strategic thinking and foresight. For this reason, Kedge has
developed a strong expertise around unconscious bias
modeling, using it as the starting place for dynamic
development and action.
Long before the current craze around unconscious
bias modeling, foresight professionals were using
assumption and bias discovery as a critical element in
organizational, cultural and workforce development.
www.kedgefutures.com

2. Why is the practice of Futures Thinking and Strategic
Foresight the best means for uncovering unconscious
biases and training individuals to recognize their blind
spots?
Foresight allows both individuals and the
organizational overall to break free from the limitations
of present perspectives. When we approach
unconscious bias modeling from the landscape of
today, we tend to filter any new ideas through the lens
of old perspectives. When we are given the tools to
think about the future in an immersive, transformative
and provocative fashion, we are able to break through
the walls of the pasts built up through our present-day
perceptions. A new way of thinking first requires a fresh
way of seeing or measuring. Attempting to create a
different perspective while operating from the confines
of old landscapes and definitions is akin to attempting
to travel across the globe using nothing but a horse
and carriage.
Kedge has created a toolkit based on the principals of
Strategic Foresight that helps organizations to break
through hidden biases, broaden their perspectives,
maximize creativity, discover disruptions, and see the
world through new eyes.
Foresight gives us the personal and collective tools
to transport our thinking beyond the boundaries of
today, and opens up new vistas of diversity, ability
and opportunity.

3. Most know that our assumptions and biases, if left
unchecked, can quickly become barriers to our diversity
and inclusion efforts; however, many do not realize the role
these unconscious blinders can play in thwarting
innovation efforts. Employing Strategic Foresight allows us
to maximize and optimize creativity for more successful
unconscious bias work.
Similar to the constraints we face when we seek to free our
thinking when limited by our current knowledge, unlocking
our creativity is impossible when all we know to be true is
what we can presently hear, see, and touch. Alternatively,
when we are allowed to play within the context of future
worlds and visions, we can imagine designs and
experiences much different form the ones we are familiar
and comfortable with today. Strategic Foresight allows us to
immerse ourselves in these future worlds, transporting us to
new landscapes of creative thought and action. Rather than
attempting to maximize creativity by questioning biases
within the confines of our established settings - where our
unconscious beliefs have worn a deep and familiar trench -
foresight allows us to uncover those biases by delving into
unfamiliar futures. When we are thrust into stories of the
future, we are less likely to attempt to hide or mask our
biases that are supported by our present realities, even if
those biases are subconscious.
Kedge has developed bias modeling tools that help
organizations to explore creative ideas and landscapes
outside of our comfort zones, releasing us from the biases
of our traditional viewpoints and granting us the freedom to
create worlds that we have yet to imagine.
When we break past our biases, we open up to
different ways of perceiving the world around us,
When this happens, our creativity is unleashed.

4. Strategic Foresight serves as a powerful vehicle in
Unconscious Bias Modeling by first unveiling and
developing the narratives hidden within an organization.
Since the dawn of man, stories have been a fundamental
tool for understanding people, conveying new ideas, or
accepting change. In today’s environment of
transformation, leaders are increasingly realizing that
businesses are driven by their organization’s overarching
stories but they are also noting that these stories are buried
underneath layers of well-meaning but over-prescribed,
antiquated processes. In this era of exponential change it is
imperative that organizations purposefully strive to unleash
their stories, so that they may build a culture of intentional
development and growth.
When an organization does not fully employ the story that
is defining its culture, strategy and processes, it is nearly
impossible to enact any deep or lasting change. Without
knowing the dynamics and direction of our story, we
cannot possibly hope to successfully implement new
thinking or action into the organization.
Strategic Foresight reveals the dynamics of an organization’s
driving narrative by going far beyond the surface level
actions and systems that characterize the everyday
operations. Through uncovering the deeper values and
unconscious metaphors within an organization, foresight
creates a pathway into intentional story development,
enabling every individual to understand why things work
the way they do, how change can be successfully
implemented, and what aspirational goals will take the
business into future.
The hidden biases and assumptions of our
guiding narrative will overpower any change
that we desire to make, and new initiatives
will be met with frustration and failure.

5. Few would argue that today’s environment of accelerating
volatility and exponential change is disrupting paradigms in
every domain. However, our deeply engrained biases and
assumptions prevent us from recognizing these disruptions
and taking action to capitalize on them. Throw in the fact
that the majority of disturbances to our present business
models will come from outside of our industry, and we
quickly realize that Unconscious Bias Modeling must
become our number one priority.
Strategic Foresight helps us to look past our present-day
models and ideas, acting as the most effective way to
recognize disruptors on the horizon of business and society.
The very heart of foresight is centered around uncovering
emerging ideas, experiences and environments that will
make our present strategies and models obsolete. When we
try to identify these disruptors from our present positions, it
is impossible to break free from linear and incremental
thinking. For this reason, traditional approaches to
unconscious bias modeling do not help participants to think
and act disruptively - a critical skill in this age of radical
change.
Leaders often mistakenly believe that stories about the
future that stretch us beyond the probable and plausible are
a waste of time, choosing instead to create a linear, “official”
future that serves only as a blinder to the change that is
certain to come. Ignoring the provocative future stops us
from exploring unfamiliar territories and concepts that will
ultimately disrupt our traditional ways of doing business. In
provocative visions of the future, our biases and comfort
zones have nowhere to hide, and we are forced to examine
the “emerging unknown.”
One of the best ways to uncover our biases around
disruptive change is to immerse ourselves into
provocative visions of the future.

6. Futures
Thinking
tools develop
present-day
awareness.
Kedge is a minority-owned foresight, innovation, creativity, and
strategic design consultancy. We help our clients to thrive in a
world of complex ideas and practices, uncover emerging
trends on the horizon that will impact their business, and
discover unseen opportunities for strategic advantage and
development.
• iSee: A Game of Facts and Perceptions - leverages
images, ideas and information ripped from today’s
headlines to demonstrate how we unconsciously filter the
data around us.
• Ripples of Change: Cultivate, Expand and Transform –
reframes conversations about change by exploring the
power of natural growth curves.
• Narrative Transformation – uncovers an organization’s
current story (inclusive of themes and images) before
providing a map to brand new narratives.
• Headlines from the Future – allows individuals and
teams to craft creative scenarios of the future based on
the unconscious interpretation of today’s trends.
• Design Fiction – demonstrates the power of provocative
futures in revealing blind spots.
Unconscious Bias Modeling:
Tools and Offerings
Kedge offerings are customized based on client objectives
and desired workshop length. All sessions are interactive and
include reusable tools and templates.
A sampling of Kedge Unconscious Bias Modeling offerings
includes:
Please contact us for more details on any of our tools and
workshops or to request a proposal.
info@kedgefutures.com
www.kedgefutures.com
407.973.1172