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Diverse approaches often reach the same objective; watch the unconscious bias
Person A: Works x amount of hours to raise the money.
Person B: Ask friends, family, and their extended network to help raise the money.
Two people both need to lose 50 pounds.
Person A: Works out 4 times a week and intakes 1200 calories.
Person B: Works out 6 times a week and intakes 1500 calories.
Two people both need to complete a large project.
Person A: Iterates and implements minor improvements over time.
Person B: Creates the entire process up front and then executes.
Which Approach Is Correct?
In every example, each individual reached the goal; they merely had different approaches.
Is one way right or wrong? No. As long as you reach your objective, there is no wrong approach.
Different approaches can reach the same objective.
We often get caught up in doing things by the book – when in actuality, as long as we reach the objective, we are successful.
When you overthink the process, things move slow. Figure out which strategy works best for you and execute. And when someone has a different approach than you, dig deep to figure out what motivates them to think that way; furthermore, learn the pros and cons of their approach. You might learn a thing or two.
Embrace Diversity
One benefit of diversity in the workplace is the different ideas each player brings to the table. When everyone looks and thinks the same, you miss out on opportunities to diverge from the traditional path – creating successful anomalies and outcomes.
We can be very stubborn to approaches we disagree with or approaches that don’t follow our rulebook – especially when we have more experience, knowledge, or expertise than those making recommendations.
Instead of immediately resisting someone’s idea, ask yourself the following questions:
Will this approach work?
Is there a way to implement the approach and then improve?
Why am I resistant to this approach?
Is there a way to implement both approaches?
How will this approach help accomplish the objective in the long term?
Will this approach get us to x outcome?
Sometimes, all we need to do is ask ourselves some thoughtful questions before we realize our resistance is often more personal than fact-based.
Three Examples of Unconscious Bias
Affinity Bias
“Affinity bias is based on the idea that people are naturally drawn to like other people who are similar to themselves. These similarities can be based on criteria such as age, race, gender, and more.”
Conformity Bias
“This unconscious bias is most common during meetings and other team gatherings. For example, team members can sway the opinion of another person, which can affect the behavior or actions of the team as a whole.”
Attribution Bias
“Attribution bias is an unconscious bias where a person tries to evaluate or understand why another person behaves the way they do. This means that a person will try to make attributions or assumptions about certain people based on their actions.
This can be toxic to the work culture in a company since it allows employees to belittle other employees by downplaying their accomplishments and inflating their mistakes. An example would be if a person thinks of a coworker as lazy or disinterested if they are sometimes late to work. This can hurt workplace morale because the person will then only see that coworker in that light regardless of their positive performances.”
Source: Easy Llama
Unconscious Bias Affects Everyone
Unconscious bias can affect anyone, and it often affects diverse relationships because of cultural differences. The more we are aware of unconscious bias, the more we can ensure we approach diverse relationships with our eyes wide open.
This content is for informational purposes only — not professional advice. Consult a qualified professional before making any major decisions.