Reader's Digest

July• 2018 | 41

READER’S DIGEST

ACCEPTTHENPUSH
AGAINST YOUR
LIMITATIONS

Confrontingone’sownprejudiceat
home is often more fraught than do-
ingsoanywhereelse.Socialworker
andfamilytherapistJoeRichsays
that neutralising your feelings is
more productive than beating your-
self up about them. He poses the hy-
potheticalbutcommonscenarioof
ateenagesoncomingouttoamother
who due to ingrained stereotypes
ismadeuncomfortablebythead-
mission. No matter how much she
wouldliketoshecan’tovercome
thosenegativefeelingsinorderto
genuinelycelebratehisself-discov-
ery. Rich suggests it’s not a parent’s
jobtofullygrasptheirteen’schoices.
“Inrelationshipswethinkthatun-
derstanding leads to change but it’s
acceptance that leads to change” he
saysaddingthattheattempttolive
and let live is enough to begin the
processofbeingmoreopen-minded.
Changing any behavioural pattern
isagradualdifficultprocess.“It’s
humannaturetosay‘Ohthat’sjust
howIwork’”Richsays.“Don’tdo
that.Challengeit.Askwhereitcame
from and how it afects your life.”
Seeking support online in chat
rooms where others are grappling
withorareclosertoovercoming
similarfeelingscanhelp.Manyor-
ganisations offer online courses
onbias.AndHarvardUniversity’s
implicit association test (implicit.

harvard.edu) can act as an assess-

ment of what kinds of prejudice – in-

cludingthoserelatedtoracesexual

orientation gender and mental

illness–youneedtoconfront.

SETUPSYSTEMS

FOR CHANGE

Most of us know that limiting prej-

udiceoffersmoralbenefitsbut

research also shows that there’s a

business case to be made for it. hree

yearsagoareportfromconsulting

irm McKinsey and Co. found ethni-

cally diverse companies inancially

outperform more homogenous ones

by 35 per cent. A study conducted

last year by Forbes suggests diverse

teams make better business deci-

sionsupto87percentofthetime.As

a result of surveys like these many

companies have expressed a de-

sire to create such groups but aren’t

quitesurewhereorhowtostart.

Organisations can limit the inlu-

enceofprejudicebytweakinghiring

practices says Elizabeth Hirsh an

“IN RELATIONSHIPS WE

THINK UNDERSTANDING

LEADS TO CHANGE

BUTIT’S ACCEPTANCE

THAT LEADS TO

CHANGE” RICH SAYS