May 8, 2010

Marvelous, scary and helpful book. Good for personal lives and community building. Interesting applications for fund development.

This book explains that our hidden brains make many of our decisions. Contrary to what we think (and hope), our conscious brain does not make all of our decisions. So, for example, even if you believe in equity and inclusion, your hidden brain (and mine, too) is full of bias…racial bias, gender bias, and more. Only by acknowledging the hidden brain and its power – do we have any hope of coping with this bias.

“Unconscious bias influence[s] people subtly, not overtly.” It causes people to make decisions that they wouldn’t consciously make. And it causes people to make significant errors in judgment – and then “feel certain about their conclusions.” In other words, bad outcomes are not the product of stupidity, ignorance, or bad intentions. Instead, many bad outcomes result from the hidden brain.

You really must read this book. Everyone must read this book. This book should be required reading in every high school and college worldwide. Read it. Read it now! More later.

Filed under: Social Commentary

About Simone Joyaux

A consultant specializing in fund development, strategic planning, and board development, Simone P. Joyaux works with all types and sizes of nonprofits, speaks at conferences worldwide, and teaches in the graduate program for philanthropy at Saint Mary’s University, MN. Her books, Keep Your Donors and Strategic Fund Development, are standards in the field.

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