Inclusion Unlocked

Introduction: A Professor, a Psychologist, and a Man with One Leg Walk into a Bar

How did this title make you feel when you read it? Did you snicker or frown? Were you intrigued or outraged? Did it make you feel uncomfortable or simply curious as to who would be the butt of the joke? Love them or hate them, we've all heard jokes that start like this.

Usually deriving some comic value from an individual's characteristics, the “walk into a bar” joke has been around for almost 4,000 years; the first known example, found on stone tablets from the Babylonian Empire, featured a dog walking into a bar.¹ Jokes like this work because we expect one thing—often culturally ingrained unconscious bias at work—and then they deliver either something unexpected or something which accentuates that cultural stereotype. It is perhaps unsurprising these jokes first appeared in Mesopotamia when the Babylonian Empire was at its peak, and its population was composed of many national, ethnic, religious, and other identity groups living and working within the dominant Babylonian culture.

In this instance, our use of this vehicle is less to do with comedic value, rather we want to trigger a response in you—something instant, something unconscious perhaps, something you may find easier to avoid than confront. We will do this repeatedly to help you examine what is informing such responses, reframe your understanding, and enable you to incorporate fresh insights and adopt new behaviors into your leadership ...