Monday, November 17, 2014

An “Unbiased” Mindset

Learning to think beyond single dimension; look beyond the surface; love more than one color and enjoy the world of difference.


We all have biases, some that we are aware of and some we are not. Humans are not perfect, their cognizance is limited on their thinking capability and capacity, the social environment in which they grow and live; the culture they carry, the lifetime event they experience, the education they receive and the media they follow. But digital is all about mind open and mind flow because the world becomes so hyperconnected and interdependent, how shall we break through such cognitive limit and shape an unbiased mindset?

Continue to practice reflective thinking and empathetic thinking:  The culture bias makes many life suffering without choices; the hidden ceilings made of all sort of "material (glass, bamboo, Mercury., etc) make many high talent's professional life like a joke, hard to see the sky; The miscommunication due to the lack of empathy can transform a good intention to an evil-doing; and the unconsciously polar thinking turns the world black and white from its color version. There is only one way to become aware of our own bias, of our thinking and emotional patterns, and it's certainly not easy to change them, but becoming aware and managing them more consciously might be all the change it needs to make a huge difference... the way is to set common principles not to make dual or even triple standards in making judgment, to practice the continuous reflection and empathetic thinking.     

Actively seeking feedback helps uncover one’s own filters and biases. Biases and stereotyping are how we as humans cope with larger numbers of other humans than we could ever know. However, when you get down to the smaller group and individual level, these biases and stereotypes have to be thoroughly tested. Most often they are in the form of attributing behaviors to internal (something someone should be able to do something about) and external (something a person has no control over) factors. So the peer feedback can help uncover one’s biases. First, everyone is third eye blind regardless of how aware you believe you are,  your biases will always direct that decision. You need to be surrounded with people with the cognitive difference, they can provide honest, friendly and honest feedback, particularly in a decision process,  Having an honest sounding board that will tell you when your own issues are getting the way, is critical when you are dealing with the important situations.

Identify your leadership blind spot, and learn to be a passive listener is critical. The key to using it for your own biases is to listen to your own staff discuss critical issues. If you are open and listening carefully, you will begin to find the areas that they are avoiding or consciously following. Those areas probably reflect your biases since your own staff has the natural instinct to please their boss when they have the conversation with you. Be consciously identify your leadership blind spot by seeing around the corner and looking beneath the surface.

Despite our differences, every person can teach you something. Maybe one way to become aware of your unconscious bias is doing away with what you are biased towards to. When you cross wires with the biases and you are faced with resistance, keep reminding yourself that you need to value others as a person and build mind connection; and shall not allow your biases to prevent you from moving forward.  Life offers each of us a ton of opportunities to learn about ourselves and learn from others, to become better people and better-integrated leaders.

After Reflection, you get Inflection. From inner transformation via contemplation and reflection to intercommunication via empathy and understanding, you can more consciously discover and change your unconscious bias, to set common principles for looking beyond the surface, and continue to improve your ability to lead with an impartial mind or with such positive bias to doing more fair things for the people and human society. 

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