The Biased Approach Pt.2

Talent disappears when familiarity is mistaken for capability

Every person carries a set of natural inclinations — gifts, tendencies, patterns that appear without being taught.

These gifts don’t always fit into job descriptions, performance metrics, or competency models.

And that’s where bias can quietly erase them.

In hiring or team dynamics, we often favor what feels familiar:

• familiar communication styles

• familiar career paths

• familiar ways of solving problems

When someone’s talent looks different, we might see it as “irrelevant,” “unusual,” or even “difficult,” simply because it doesn’t match our expectations.

The danger is not that we have preferences.

It’s that we confuse our preferences with truth.

A more human-centered approach asks:

• “What is this person naturally good at?”

• “Where does their energy and attention go when they are free to choose?”

• “Is my discomfort about their style, or about real misalignment with the role?”

Recognizing gifts doesn’t mean ignoring performance or accountability.

It means seeing people as more than checklists.

Teams become stronger when we design around unique talents instead of forcing everyone into the same mold.

The work is simple to describe but hard to practice:

notice your bias, slow down your judgment, and stay curious about what a person might be able to do — beyond what you initially expected.