When You Hear _______, Pay Attention

The piece takes John Cutler's well-known warning-sign list for troubled product work and flips it to focus on diversity and inclusion. Instead of technical red flags, it supplies concrete phrases that should make any leader pause and ask whether bias is at play.

Examples include "That candidate wouldn't be a culture fit," "They don't have a qualification that isn't in the job description," and the classic "Can you take notes?" addressed only to the woman in the room. Each line shows how subtle language can reinforce exclusion during hiring, promotions, or everyday team interactions.

The article invites readers to contribute their own red-flag statements and even provides a downloadable mini-poster to hang in an office. The visual reminder turns abstract awareness into a daily check that leaders can use when reviewing resumes, performance metrics, or meeting dynamics.

For technical leaders the value is practical: a quick checklist that surfaces hidden inequities before they become systemic. By calling out these signals in real time, managers can protect hiring pipelines, promotion paths, and team culture from unconscious bias, improving both fairness and overall team performance.