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Éradiquer l’entre-soi, cette usine à exclusion invisible

Change, Collective intelligence, Human Resources, Social responsibility, Performance, Leadership, Management, Action Tip

27 October 2025

Action Tip

Eliminating echo chambers: those invisible engines of exclusion.

Hiring through personal networks, promotions reserved for insiders, opportunities monopolized by a select group—that’s exactly how self-reinforcing systems operate. And they don’t come about by accident: they’re a well-oiled system built to protect those in power and keep outsiders at a distance. The result? The same faces in top positions, the same career paths fast-tracked—and “diversity policies” that rarely go beyond the symbolic.

Cross-analysis inspired by

Change the Wallpaper by Nilanjana Dasgupta (Yale U Press, January 2025) and La diversité n’est pas ce que vous croyez ! by Olivier Sibony (Flammarion, March 2025).

The worst part? This gatekeeping is invisible. It doesn’t need to be stated outright because it runs on unspoken rules, implicit codes, and cozy connections dressed up as “culture fit.” Unless we target the mechanism itself, diversity will remain an empty promise—window dressing with no real impact. So, how do we break this vicious circle and finally throw open the gates to power?
Here are 5 concrete actions to dismantle exclusivity and blow up this invisible machine.

1 – Stop hiring clones
(And set clear rules)

The problem
Recruitment is often based on the illusion of merit, when in reality, it’s comfort-zone hiring that prevails. Candidates are chosen because they look like us, speak the same language, share the same cultural references. “He went to the same school as me,” “We have mutual friends,” “He gets our vibe,” and so on. This bias is so deeply ingrained that it gets mistaken for sound judgement.

The solution
We need to shatter this illusion and enforce transparent, unbiased hiring processes:
✔ Anonymize applications to eliminate the advantage of personal networks.
✔ Ban unwarranted internal referrals: if a candidate is referred, their application must be assessed like any other—based on strict, objective criteria.
✔ Diversify hiring panels: no more letting identical profiles hire their own clones.

💥 Immediate action: Require companies to publish diversity data at every stage of recruitment, and hold them accountable when there’s no progress.

Tagged with: networks, promotion, recruiting method, diversity, spheres of influence, decision making, biases, Sponsorship, illusion, change, leadership, mentoring, performance, Circles of influence

Published by Françoise Tollet

She spent 12 years in industry, working for Bolloré Technologies, among others. She co-founded Business Digest in 1992 and has been running the company since 1998. And she took the Internet plunge in 1996, even before coming on board as part of the BD team. 

Eliminating echo chambers: those invisible engines of exclusion.

1 – Stop hiring clones
(And set clear rules)

Debunking diversity: a hollow promise without genuine change

Are you falling for the diversity illusion?

6 simple steps to fighting unconscious bias

Eliminating echo chambers: those invisible engines of exclusion.

1 – Stop hiring clones(And set clear rules)

Debunking diversity: a hollow promise without genuine change

Are you falling for the diversity illusion?

6 simple steps to fighting unconscious bias

1 – Stop hiring clones
(And set clear rules)