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Negotiating opinions, assumptions and bias
Sent Tuesday, April 26, 2011
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Hey ,
I had an assumption about the guy who lives in the rental next door to me who sports a comb-over and loves high rise jeans. Know what it is? That he's a reclusive trust fund brat. Wanna know the truth? He's commercial director and the "rental" is his second home and he has to wear high rise pants because he has a colostomy bag due to a chronic illness.
I know you're just like me. You carry lots of opinions and assumptions about everything under the sun. Unchecked, they can augur your life into the ground.
- I can't ask for a raise because I'll get fired if I do.
- I can't raise my fees or nobody will hire me.
- I can't t ask Jane to pick up my son at school when I'm in a pinch because she's too busy.
- I can't sit on the board of my favorite nonprofit because they're all Republicans.
- I can't join the leadership council because that's not the way it's done. I have to be invited.
The social scientists who research these things call this selective perception, a form of cognitive bias that reveals our tendency to perceive things according to our belief system and to react to circumstances based on them.
Underpinned by fear, these biases kill off much opportunity and possibility. And since it's our job, women, to speak up, make a ruckus and find our leadership bones, we have to notice our entrenched beliefs and replace them with curiosity.
If you've got an opinion or bias you'd like to give away today, we'd love to hear it.
In joy,
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