Minding Your Own Bias

For many people, a scenario involving uncertainty is not hard to imagine. After all, we never quite know how a person will respond in a given setting. We can look at past behavior and identify patterns to predict future outcomes. However, it is still a deduction model that hypothesis a result that may or may not occur.

Implicit bias affects judgment and perception. Culture influences the words, expressions, and desires that comprise response. Overcoming communication challenges requires open dialogue.

Bias in the Workplace

Recently, I was involved in a workplace conflict with a coworker that led me to reflect on my past behavior. I’m not talking about a minor disagreement over kitchen etiquette (e.g., washing dishes).

The unresolved larger concerns hold the potential of making minor problems seem more urgent within a workplace environment.

My work ethic is not something that I am used to addressing with third-parties, as I am more substantively goal-oriented. In working toward the completion of tasks, I tend to prefer working alone. At times, I have been known to disappear into a project closing off the world around me. My approach may seem disorganized at times to an outside observer since I readily jot down words and phrases sporadically across a whiteboard. When asked, I often call my method an organic process that begins without knowing an end in sight – slowly, bit-by-bit, abstraction gives way to multilayered logic.

The most frustrating part of my methodology is the fact that I offer limited details during the production of the work. For me, completing a task is about producing a final result that remains untethered to a particular process. I tend to ask fewer process questions as I work toward the completion of the project.

Still, this exchange with my coworker was helpful because it reminded me that sometimes the source of interpersonal conflict remains hidden in the routine. When behaviors become so common, they appear ordinary, it may be helpful to have a trusted colleague bring them to view.

Checking your Bias

Life teaches us that different situations require different approaches. One way social scientists speak about the phenomena they study is through the application of models or theories. George Box, a British statistician, in 1976, claimed, “All models are wrong, some are useful.”

Previously, I have argued that there exists no magic pill to become a better communicator. An individual simply makes strides in overcoming challenges by embracing openness, honesty, and flexibility. Communication is about what is said as much as what is heard. When we hear another person, we better understand the expression of intent.

The Ladder of Inference (LOI) is a concept developed by Chris Argyris to describe decision-making stages. The ladder’s height is the expression of a thought, idea, or action, with each rung representing a step along the way toward decisionmaking. The LOI remains a helpful technique for checking and understanding one’s own personal biases.