This is a very useful communication hack that it took me over a decade of working to figure out.
Save yourself the time and just read this 😅
Save yourself the time and just read this 😅
When I was younger & often the only woman on a team, I found that the white men in my team could jump straight to “X is terrible” & have it cheerfully explained to them.
I & my PoC male coworkers, on the other hand, often got defensiveness & tone policing when we did that.
I & my PoC male coworkers, on the other hand, often got defensiveness & tone policing when we did that.
So even though it took me awhile, I still think I picked up this skill (because I had to!) before many of my white male colleagues did.
As an industry, our communication standards are rising. White male engineers in my experience bracket who are still in the “X is terrible” phase of communication maturity are finding a ceiling where once there was none.
By the way, the “X is terrible” phase of communication skill is often called “strong opinions weakly held.”
You’ll have to move beyond that if you want to succeed in this new world.
You’ll have to move beyond that if you want to succeed in this new world.
