Can a bias influence your decision to not like something new...to not get "it", like a new software version, or perhaps a new position at a company? We've all seen someone, even ourselves, struggle the first time with a task similar to what has already been a second nature routine for many years. It's not like a riding a bike, or is it?
Bias can influence our attitudes to new software and certainly to new jobs. "It's new." "I've never used it." "I remember all the other times I had to learn something new and it wasn't fun." "This isn't like my previous job." Can we not find a way to translate our past experience to something that at first blush appears to be similar.
Funny how introducing something new seems to nearly always make one feel like a fish out of water. In reality though, it is usually not the fish out of water analogy, it's probably the fish dropped into a new fishbowl. Once one takes the time to adjust, the chaos may not be as bad as it seems.
This is my second blog posting this week that finds me discussing biases. Yesterday's discussion was focused on biases introduced during development, but today it is about, if it's not so obvious, is about transitioning into new jobs. But, like yesterday, a bias against something new can interfere with, or even derail, a successful transition.
How, though, does one clear the fog from the belfry and then really see the new job for what it is? I believe it comes from finding, and taking a bite of the proverbial elephant. Right, one cannot eat an elephant at one sitting...
...and hopefully there won't be too many nights of pink elephants...
I've recently started a new position which has me searching for the elephant buffet. Why is it I would struggle in an environment which is very similar to where I've been the last seven years of my career? I think, no I believe, it is because it is just enough different to have thrown me for a loop.
It is going to be an interesting ride.
