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.
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, prejudice, and bullying 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 CST.
There will be lots to talk about on March 21st because 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, prejudice, and bullying.
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.”
We all have areas of unconscious bias. Because our bias is unconscious, we need to ask for and be open to feedback. Once we hear feedback about our bias, we need to slow down, be open to questioning ourselves, and acknowledge our bias. Besides feedback, increased self-awareness through meditation, religion, therapy, novels, and travel can help eliminate bias.
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 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.”
Looking in the mirror. Besides interrupting prejudice in others, we also need to recognize it in ourselves. Our brains make sense of the world by seeking patterns and sorting life into tidy buckets. This automatic sorting can lead to prejudice. Anytime you hear or use a sweeping generalization, stop and question if the statement is based in stereotypes rather than facts.
Bullying or “being mean” is the intentional, repeated use of in-group status or power to dominate, coerce, or harm others. When the person’s goal is to cause harm, Scott recommends “You” statements to shift the dynamic. Examples include: “You are behaving like a bully.” And “You need to stop.” Clear consequences are needed to stop bullying.
What bullying does and doesn't look like. Bullying doesn’t necessarily include prejudice. Bullying also doesn’t always look like a big kid pushing around a smaller one. Sometimes bullying is as simple as a person who’s in a majority group making assumptions about someone who is underrepresented. As with bias and prejudice, almost everyone has acted like a bully at some time. Being angry and in the dominant group are two common preconditions for bullying.
5 ways to take action
When in doubt, assume bias. Although you won’t always know if someone is acting on bias rather than prejudice or bullying, 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 bullying) 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, prejudice, or bullying, as well as 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 or in this video (Warning: profanity is used to make a point about frustration) to multiple mosquito bites.
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.” For practice scenarios, check out the Lean In Foundation’s free course 50 Ways to Fight Bias.
Does your workplace have a code of conduct? If not, it may be time to write one. A code of conduct sets out expectations for what people can and cannot do. Scott recommends that leaders write the code and then ask colleagues to edit it.
Acknowledge your mistakes. Most of us could use some help admitting to ourselves and others when we make mistakes. Acknowledging mistakes is essential for doing better. See "Why is it so hard to apologize?" for guidance on apologizing.
“Confrontation has obvious costs and hidden benefits; silence has hidden costs and obvious benefits.” —Kim Scott, Just Work
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