Disrupting Bias – Interactive Experience and Workshop

Unconscious prejudices are widespread and extremely persistent. The discrimination against certain people is statistically evident. But the problem is difficult to get rid of, even with people who actually want to be tolerant and impartial. Many traditional diversity programs fail. An interactive experience for the Publicis Sapient agency aims to make this topic more tangible and successful.

To help Publicis Sapient staff understand what bias feels like, rather than simply learning about it, Second Story developed a comprehensive workshop.

The focus of the three-part workshop is an interactive experience and a kind of office intervention. Audio stories from actual employees and a beacon-supported, custom mobile app transform the office into an interactive landscape. The participants are confronted with honest reports from their colleagues about bias - in the rooms in which the experiences could actually have taken place. The experience serves as an emotional catalyst for the subsequent group discussion, in which the participants are helped to move from awareness and empathy to actual action.

The program was designed to be scalable and is currently being rolled out globally to reach all 16,000 Publicis Sapient employees.

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