Strategies for dealing with any type of bias

[SQLSister]

Hey we've had threads discussing the various types of discrimination many of us have faced. Let's stop talking about the discimination per se and start talking about what you as an individual can do to overcome problems you face because of bias.

My first technique in dealing with bias is to strongly ask yourself if it was, in fact, bias. Just becausue you are (fill in the blank here) and you didn't get what you wanted does not make it bias.

I remember the very first time I was up for a promotion and it went to a man instead .(News I was given on the phone by my boss while I was out of town by telling me, "Great News, George got that promotion you were competing for." It was all I could do not to hang up on him!)

Given the way I was told about George's promotion, I felt somewhat discriminated against and angry. But I sat back and asked myself why him rather than me and came up with the fact that he had much more experience than I did. And then I went to the Department Head who made the decision and asked him what I could do to improve my chances of promotion in the future and he told me flat out the things I answered poorly in the interview and what specific experience I needed to get and gave me the chance to get that experience. It wasn't easy hearing the criticism, but I'm glad I did.

Of course, I could have just assumed (as some of my female colleagues did) that there was no chance I would ever get promoted and stop trying. I didn't and the next time I competed for a promotion at that organization, I got it.

Ok so now your turn. What are somethings you do to overcome bias and to make yourself successful in spite of what anybody else thinks about your race, sex, disability, sexual orientation, religion, or age.

 

[CajunCenturion]

Listen and Learn
Be fair,
Be yourself,
Be honest



Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[jrbarnett]

I would add to Cajun's post:

Do your work to the best of your ability, exceeding your job requirements if possible, without drawing unnecessary attention to yourself.

If you have colleagues or users that fall into these categories of people that are usually discriminated against, make sure that you don't do it yourself. Perhaps you could go to lunch with them or have a coffee break together, and ask them what they think of their work in general terms.

John

 

[theoxyde]

jrbarnett's advice to make sure you aren't being biased yourself is the first step. The statement from the Bible that says "don't try to get the speck out of sombody else's eye before you get the log out of your own eye" is a very valuable bit of wisdom.

Ultimately, the only person you have complete control over is yourself, so you have to start there. Overcoming biases in others is much more difficult, because you cannot "control" them no matter how hard you try. You can, however, influence them by setting a good example. First Impressions play a big role here, because many people will make up their mind about the kind of person you the moment they meet you. The attitude they pick up from you then will shape their future thoughts about you.

Being that I have a lot of direct contact with my end users, I always pay close attention when I am meeting new people to give off a certain impression. I want to convey an attitude that I am going to treat them as an equal. If they get that impression from me, they are much more likely to respond in kind, often in spite of any usual biases they may have.

On the flip-side of that coin is not to convey that you are going to treat tham as any more than an equal. I have seen many people in management that overcompensate for their biases and go overboard. Remember that dealing with your own biases is like driving on a curvy road. You have to compensate for the curve to keep from going off the road, but you can overcompensate and go off the other side of the road just as well.

However, as I mentioned in another recent thread, some people are jerks and you can't control that. Jerks *want* to be treated like they are different (better) than everyone else. If you give them any more or any less consideration than anyone else, you reinforce their behaviour. Avoid them when possible, but treat them like anyone else when you can't.

People are like snowballs. It doesn't matter the size or shape, they all remain snowballs at a constant 32F. Just aviod the yellow ones whenever possible.