What If I Don’t Fit?

What If I Don’t Fit? (Stereotyping Part 1)

Stereotyping is not fundamentally wrong when you think of why we do it as humans. I believe that it is problematic and prevalent because we have not paid attention to why we do it in the first place and so we have not been able to combat it.  

Understanding why we do something may help us refrain from doing it.  In researching for my book “The Truth Behind Excuses: Underperformance Explained”, I had to dig deeper into stereotyping and why humans engage in it.  (See link below to get a copy)

Psychologists believe that humans engage in stereotyping to help us mentally organize the variety of people and things we meet every day that tend to overwhelm our mental capacity. 

By using stereotypes, it becomes easier for us to deal with others or groups without paying individual attention.  

So, with stereotypes, we find a quick way out of a rather “complex” situation and avoid the “tedious work” involved in pausing to observe and understand the next person. Unconsciously, if we put the person into a box, so we can move to the next person or the next activity.  

What if the person does not fit?  

This is how and when we run into problems in and with our relationships.  No matter how similar people may look or even if they come from the same place, tribe, location, group, each person is fundamentally unique and will not fit whatever box we have created.  

The key problem with stereotyping is not the generalizations or exaggerations, it is the fact that these generalizations and exaggerations typically allows no room for differentiation and so what happens when I don’t fit? 

Humans are not about to stop mentally putting things and groups into a box to mentally organize so they deal with complexities that surround them. In mathematics, we are taught to group similar numbers before solving the problem.  

In science, I was taught to group animals of similar characteristics into a group, carnivores, reptiles and amphibians (how in the world should we put frogs and snakes into one group?), etc.  In a way, grouping and boxing have been fundamental in the way we process the complexities around us.  

What if I don’t fit?

DEI programs and frameworks tend to deal with the symptoms that do not address the roots and foundations. When people know why and what, they are more likely to deal with the causative.  

If you would like to know more, please get a copy of my book (link below).  

If you would like to augment your DEI programs with presentations or workshop on combatting stereotyping, please reach out or schedule a chat with the button below.