Putting people into boxes

We do it within seconds of meeting someone. ‘She's in finance’; ‘He's one of the younger ones’; ‘The extroverts.’ We've categorised them before they've said a word.

I understand the appeal. Boxes are quick, and our brains like quick.

But the moment I label a colleague by their age, gender, role or personality, I've stopped working with a person and started working with an assumption. And assumptions don't share information, ask for help, or change their mind.

Researchers call these divisions 'faultlines', and the evidence shows that once a team quietly splits into ‘us’ and ‘them’, people stop sharing what they know across the line - and the work is worse for it.

The best teams I work with do the opposite. They see each other as individuals with a job to do, and get on with doing it. Together, without judgement.