Last Saturday, I took an improv workshop with Djibril Traoré. He said the above: “Don’t be prepared; be available,” and attributed it to Keith Johnston.
Now, this specifically relates to the “yes, and” concept of improv. You cannot plan everything out because you don’t know what will come your way. If you do too much planning, you end up with a supremely unfunny scene because the ensemble isn’t working together–they are each working toward a different end.
This applies to other types of communication as well. There are many applications to this principle and today we’ll talk about investigations.
How many arguments have you had in your head? You always come out looking fabulous with your shower-based arguments but not so well in real life. Why? Because, in the shower you can control both sides. In real life, you cannot.
Why is preparation bad?
It depends on the situation. If you’re giving a presentation on quantum physics, you should be prepared. If you’re conducting a sexual harassment investigation, you should be prepared with the fundamentals of conducting an investigation, but you need to be available to listen to what people say.
You will not conduct a good investigation if you go prepared with your answers and conclusions. How often have I heard, “Oh, he would NEVER do that,” or “She would NEVER lie to me!”?
If you’re saying that, you’ve made up your mind before you begin. You’ve prepared your conclusion before conducting your investigation. You’re not available to hear new information. You get stuck in patterns of confirmation bias. This is where we only hear things that confirm what we already believe to be true.
(Incidentally, this is why political discourse is so weird. You’ve picked your candidate, and you absolutely cannot understand why people would choose a different candidate! Look! Here are the facts! My candidate is clearly superior! On the other side, your neighbors have chosen the other candidate, and they absolutely cannot understand why you wouldn’t choose their candidate! “Look!” they say, “Here are the facts! Our candidate is clearly superior to yours!”)
This is why you need to try your best to be neutral going into an investigation. You need to be available to learn new things. This is one of the reasons HR people shouldn’t be friends with employees. Note, I didn’t say friendly; I said friends. It isn’t easy to be objective and not jump to conclusions about people you are friends with. “I know X! X would never lie!”
This is hard. It’s very hard not to only seek out things that confirm our own biases. But here are some tricks.
How to avoid confirmation bias
Flip it to test it:
The first thing is, of course, to understand that confirmation bias exists. This allows you to use Kristen A. Pressner‘s trick, “Flip it to test it.” This is where you ask yourself, “Would I make the same decision if this person were somehow different.”
When the star performer insists that he did nothing wrong, and you’re inclined to believe him because your interactions have been positive and his work results are fabulous, ask yourself, “If I had the same witness statements applying to the department slacker, would I come to the same conclusion?” If you would! Great! If not, that’s probably confirmation bias at play.
Make clear policies/qualifications before beginning.
We’ve done this in recruiting for years. You set up the hiring rubric and grade the candidates on each part.
You can do something similar with clear policies and understanding of the law. If you know what harassment is and what it is not, you can match behavior to those standards, rather than going with a “gut feeling.” Your gut is going to be heavily influenced by your preparation–years worth of preparation which we know as bias.
You need to be available to learn new things.
But wait, that seems like a whole lot of preparation!
You’re right it is. And neither my improv teacher nor Keith Johnston was talking about being unlearned. To do a good improv performance, you need to do a lot of preparation. You have to learn the rules of improv and the form, build relationships with your ensemble, practice building platforms, practice developing characters, etc.
You don’t send an intern in to do an investigation. You need a solid understanding before you go in.
But you go in without a plan for how it will play out. If you have a conclusion before you begin, you’ll force the investigation in that direction, which will not be fair or accurate.
Be prepared! Know your policies. Know the laws. And then listen to what people tell you. If you know you can’t be unbiased because of your relationships with the people involved, bring in an outside investigator.
Speaking of preparation.
Today at 12:00 Eastern, 9:00 Pacific, I’ll conduct a training session on PWFA—the Pregnant Worker’s Fairness Act. This is another situation where you can’t walk in with your conclusion drawn—you need to listen and go through the interactive process.
You can sign up at www.HRLearns.com and use discount code PWFA to get a 25 percent discount!
Hopefully I’ll see you in a few hours!