“We don’t see things as they are, we see things as we are.”

-Anais Nin

…a great quote and one that I refer to often in my work.  And it is true. We see things as we are…which also means we see things and situations and behaviors differently.

Social stimuli (including the behavior of others) are vague and ambiguous things.  They have to be cognitively mediated.  Meaning…we have to give them meaning.  Take a kiss for example.  A kiss is not a static, tangible thing that means one specific thing regardless of when, where or with whom…a kiss could mean a lot of different things.  What it means to me is the meaning that I give it…and for me that is influenced by who is kissing me, the context and other things.

My last post took a jab at the idea that anyone should be surprised at the discovery of bias.  This is a huge blind spot for us on an organizational and on an individual level.   We have really bought into this idea that:

biased people (or organizations) are bad

non-biased people (or organizations) are good

A more accurate reflection of reality would be this:

biased people (or organizations) are natural

non-biased people (or organizations) are a dangerous fairy tale

Bias is simply evidence that human beings are involved.  The presence of bias tells you nothing of any value about the individuals or organizations involved.  The willingness and ability to acknowledge bias and work to reduce its impact tells you a great deal about the individuals or organizations involved. When you meet the person that claims to be free of bias, be very wary…they have picked a fight with reality.  We cannot change something we do not acknowledge and to buy into the idea that we are without bias sets up to make decisions based more on fiction than fact.

Be good to each other.