If you’ve been involved in inclusion efforts at your workplace, you know this work is both challenging and worth it. Creating more equal workplaces requires a commitment by everyone to build a community that supports collaboration and respect. In the book Just Work, author Kim Scott addresses six different problems that create workplace injustice: bias, prejudice, bullying, discrimination, verbal harassment, and physical violations.
Just Work offers recommendations on how to respond to each element of injustice depending on your role — leader, observer, person harmed, or person who causes harm. Read on to get started on how to address bias and prejudice.
Bias or “not meaning it” involves conclusions and assumptions based on stereotypes; the biased person is unaware that they are doing this. Kim Scott recommends we all become “bias interrupters” who respond to bias with clear “I” statements. Often these “I” statements are simply stating or correcting facts. Hearing an “I” statement helps the person acting on bias to see things from another perspective. For example, “I think you confused me with someone who you think looks like me.”
Prejudice or “meaning it” is when bias turns into conscious prejudice and ingrained beliefs. Scott recommends responding to prejudice with “It” statements. “It” statements emphasize that the prejudiced person is crossing a line by imposing their prejudice on others. Examples include: “It is disrespectful to call a grown woman a girl.” And “It is a violation of our company policy to hang a Confederate flag above your desk.”
4 action steps to consider
When in doubt, assume bias. Although you won’t always know if someone is acting on bias rather than prejudice, Scott recommends assuming that someone is acting on bias. When you clearly and compassionately hold up the mirror to the person’s behavior with an “I” statement, their response will let you know if they meant it (prejudice) or not (bias). Specifically, if they correct themselves and apologize, they didn’t mean it and it’s bias.
Be an “upstander” rather than a bystander. For workplaces to be more just, everyone must commit to being an “upstander” by noticing and speaking up when they observe bias or prejudice, as well as bullying, discrimination, verbal harassment, and physical violations. Both big and small instances of injustice require support for those harmed. Although one biased action or “microaggression” might not seem worthy of interrupting, the cumulative effect on people harmed is likened by Scott to a repetitive stress injury.
Take a team approach. One way that teams can strengthen their teammates’ ability to call out bias without escalating the situation is to come up with an agreed upon catchphrase like “Bias interruption” or “I’m throwing a flag on the field.”
Let’s come together. At this moment in history, it is more evident than ever that workplaces need to support everyone’s health and well-being. Helping employees become more aware of bias and prejudice is one way to provide this support. If interested in learning more about these concepts, sign up today for a free one-time discussion of part 1 of the book Just Work on March 21, 2022 from 10:30 a.m. to noon.
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