Technology is amazing. Getting news rapidly is amazing. Seeing what are friends like (and don’t like is amazing). However, one of the downsides of technology is that the automatic algorithms give us an unrealistic view of the world.
Jenn Wortham writes in the New York Times
In hindsight, that failure makes sense. I’ve spent nearly 10 years coaching Facebook — and Instagram and Twitter — on what kinds of news and photos I don’t want to see, and they all behaved accordingly. Each time I liked an article, or clicked on a link, or hid another, the algorithms that curate my streams took notice and showed me only what they thought I wanted to see. That meant I didn’t realize that most of my family members, who live in rural Virginia, were voicing their support for Trump online, and I didn’t see any of the pro-Trump memes that were in heavy circulation before the election. I never saw a Trump hat or a sign or a shirt in my feeds, and the only Election Day selfies I saw were of people declaring their support for Hillary Clinton.
For leaders (and everyone) it’s so important to be careful of the LENSE through which you see something. Don’t let the lens you’re looking through taint you and be careful that you are not filtering out too much.
The media, pollsters and others learned painful lessons in “blinders”.
As a leader, maybe you’re getting information about a problem employee (or other person). However, make sure you ask around and not get your information from a closed circle of view points.
And sometimes you must PURPOSEFUL dig a little deeper than the surface to ensure you’re getting as much well-rounded views and opinions as possible.
If you’re a “Fox News” person, get a little “MSNBC” in you from time to time.
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