In her Ted talk “The Danger of a Single Story,” Chimamanda Adichie talks about times when a single story distorted her view of herself and others, and times when others had a single story that distorted their view of HER.

So, what is a single story?

A single story is when we have limited information about a person, place, event, etc. We only have one story that portrays that person as one thing, so we miss out on the full scope of who that person or place is, and what’s actually going on.

Main takeaways:

• When we only have one story of a person or place, we make assumptions that probably aren’t true because we’re working with limited information. In other words, we stereotype.

• Single stories can dehumanize others in our minds—sometimes to disastrous results.

• Single stories drive us apart because they highlight our differences rather than our similarities.

• In order to truly see a person or a place, we must engage with more stories of that person or place.

Why Single Stories are Dangerous

“The consequence of the single story is this: It robs people of dignity. It makes our recognition of our equal humanity difficult. It emphasizes how we are different rather than how we are similar.” - Chimamanda Adichie

Single stories can close us off to possibilities surrounding people, places, processes, and just about anything because we think we know enough and don’t need to learn anymore.

At best, a single story can limit our view of another person. At worst, it can render them inhuman in our eyes. Think of anti semitic propaganda that circulated Europe during the Holocaust, and the devastating results. In genocides and wars, the control of information is instrumental in justifying atrocities done to other human beings.

Notice when you see groups of people as a monolith based on their ethnicity, orientation, gender, political affiliation, race, background, religion, class, or any other label. (This also goes for places.)

We only ever have PART of the story. We only see a fraction of who that person really is and what’s really going on.

Single Stories at Redmond

Single stories can also limit us on a smaller scale. We deal with this all the time at Redmond.

We can have assumptions and single stories about processes, policies, and “the way things are.” We can forget that just because something IS doesn’t mean that’s how it has to be. This is hugely important for our Kaizone efforts and culture of continuous improvement because if we can’t see possibilities, we can’t make improvements.

At Redmond, we also use personality profiles to help us understand each other better, but we have to be careful not to use these as single stories.

It’s easy to think “Oh, she’s a Red, so she’s aggressive.” This is why we try to avoid labeling, and instead say “She HAS a lot of red.” These tests are meant to help us understand people, not to pigeonhole, label, stereotype, or give us all the information we need about someone.

Just because something appears to be doesn’t mean it is. Just because it is doesn’t mean it has to be.

There’s always another story.

The Solution: Find More Stories

Here’s some real talk before you get overwhelmed: You can’t know every story. You can't even know all there is to know about people you’re closest to. There’s just not enough time in the day, and you’re a human being with limited energy.

So, don’t feel guilty if you recognize you might have some single stories. We’re all wrong sometimes. We all have stereotypes and prejudices, and it’s just not helpful to feel guilty about it.

We also like to be right, which is also normal and natural. It’s hard to admit when we’re wrong, but recognizing when we’re wrong and changing our views when we receive new information is a skill we should all develop. (A great talk for this is “On Being Wrong” by Kristen Schulz.)

So, how do we notice when we’re working with a single story? How do we avoid stereotyping and jumping to conclusions?

Our core values can help us do just that.

Occhiolism

“The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.”

-Chimamanda Adichie

The goal isn’t to know every story. It’s to know there’s always another story or more to the story. It’s always assuming that you’re missing something.

In other words, the goal is to have Occhiolism.

Assume that you’re assuming, and realize that whatever you’re assuming is probably not completely true.

Adichie describes a few times when she had a single story of her family’s house boy, Fide, being extremely poor. Her mother often sent food home with Fide and admonished Adichie when she didn’t finish her dinner, because Fide’s family had so little.

So when Adichie visited Fide’s family, his mother showed her a gorgeous basket Fide’s brother had made, and Adichie was shocked. It had never occurred to her that these people could also be creative and industrious.

She said about meeting her house boy’s family “All I had heard about them was how poor they were, so that it had become impossible for me to see them as anything else but poor. Their poverty was my single story of them.”

That doesn’t mean her single story wasn’t real—Fide’s family was poor—but she learned that wasn’t the only true story about that family.

Occhiolism is about realizing that your perspective is limited. You’re never working with the full picture. ALWAYS assume there’s more to learn.

Ubuntu

“If you knew the secret history of those you would like to punish, you would find a sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all your hostility.”  - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Ubuntu is the opposite of stereotyping. As David Brooks says in his book How to Know a Person,  “A great way to mis-see people is to only see a piece of them.”

For example, assumptions based on political affiliation are rife right now. If a person votes a certain way, we might assume a whole host of things about them. But do we take the time to get to know that person, or do we just think “Oh, they’re a [fill in the blank],” assume we know enough, and move on?

Seeing others means gathering more stories beyond rumors or labels. Get to know THEM. See them as a whole person.

This requires asking questions, challenging yourself to learn about that person instead of just following your assumptions about them, and seeking to understand. It’s suspending judgment.

They have a different political opinion from you? Talk to them and understand why.

They come from a completely different background from you? Learn more about them and how they’re similar to you rather than different.

They support your rival sports team? Seek to understand instead of declaring a lifelong feud.

Find out who they are as a person, their likes and dislikes, what they want and fear most, about their family and life, their strengths and weaknesses.

No one is just one thing. Think about art: A good drawing, painting, or photograph relies on contrast, darks and lights, and a full range of values. Otherwise the picture is flat, boring, and probably hard to see clearly.

Reflect and Renew

Reflection is always helpful when it comes to taking a look at what is (or how we are) and what could be (or how we could be). We can notice when we trip up (reflection) and make changes going forward (renew).

Renewing isn’t just self-care. It’s the natural result of deep reflection because when you know better, you do better. You allow yourself to be different from how you were before.

We can also give people room to change or be different from what we thought they were. This doesn’t mean we have to give multiple chances to someone who repeatedly hurts us, but we can accept that people, when internally motivated, can change. People can be different from what we initially thought they were.

It’s easy to assume. It’s easy to jump to conclusions instead of gathering more information or exploring possibilities.

But if we hold onto our single stories about people and processes, we don’t grow as individuals or teams. We don’t improve or elevate the human experience.

Practices to Try:

Here are some practices you can try today to start moving beyond your single stories:

• Pay attention to assumptions you have about people and challenge yourself to learn something unique about them as a person. (Here’s a trick: if you think you don’t like someone, you probably don’t know them well enough.)

• Ask questions, and really listen to the answers. Don’t listen to reply, listen to understand.

• Notice your assumptions and ask yourself where you got that story. (This doesn’t mean those assumptions are automatically wrong, but they’re only part of the story.)

• Gather more stories. Read books (nonfiction AND fiction), talk to different people, listen to podcasts, and watch shows and documentaries with different viewpoints.

• Look for what we have in common rather than what makes us different.

• Allow people (including yourself!) to surprise you.

Awareness of our single stories and a willingness to explore is crucial for growth and progress, and for elevating the human experience because it helps us see each other as human. The ability to move past our assumptions makes the world a better place, because it helps us stay open to possibility and what could be!