It’s One Of The Best Things About Being A Woman
 
 
How would you answer the question:  What’s the best thing about being a woman? Oh, OK, I forgot about that, and that. I bet you didn’t think about putting this stereotype in that category: Women are always changing their minds.
 
We nearly always have to watch out for dreadful stereotypes and run play interference to stop them and then we have to put on a production to show we’re not a model example. But here’s a twist I believe we should run with, shouting, “Yes, we women change our minds. When we uncover new information counter to what we previously thought, we flex and adjust our thinking. And that’s OK. In fact, that’s good for business.”
 
Now, of course, some men behave this way, but how often have you heard a man defend his position. And continue to defend his position as each new flaming factoid heads his way? In the workplace, this eats up valuable time. Business must act on current truths—defending an old position is not going to bring in new markets.
 
Two of the talents that come easily to most women are the ability to flex quickly with changes and being comfortable with ambiguity. These two traits work together to tempt us to change our minds with new developments. We can ignore these nudges, but I say, pay attention to them. Realize many things are not either black or white. Gray is OK.
 
In my own experience, I’ve made massive belief changes. In the women’s lib days at Berkeley, I defended my position that there were absolutely no differences between men and women, aside from delivering babies. To admit a difference meant to admit being inferior.
 
For the last three decades, I’ve observed the differences, I value the differences, and I can enjoy the humor in how these differences sometimes play out. I agree with Judy Rosener and Tom Peters in believing we should honor the differences between men and women and have them smoothly mesh together in the workplace.
 
 
Tip:  Watch out when you’re the female Bringer of Bad News to a male. You may hear, “Na-Ah! No way!”  The more information you add, the stronger his denial. You know why? ‘Cause the minute the women leave the room, the guys will tease him with, “Shot down by a woman!”  In a forward-thinking company this shouldn’t happen. And maybe next year all companies will be forward-thinking. But for now, think about how you can present new data when you expect a strong defense. If you find a man is relentlessly shooting down your factoids say, “If I’m able to gather information showing X, would you be interested in looking it over and reconsidering?”  This at least allows him to save face in front of the group. Of course, you don’t have to do that. You can perhaps win the fight right there, but you’ll have to watch your back, and that’s not fun.
 
Further Reading:
 
Website, WomensMedia, Tom Peters says “Women Roar”
He leaves no doubt of the tremendous benefits for organizations that recognize the importance of women.
 
Website, WomensMedia, John Gray: Tips for Women Who Want to Work Well With Men
WomensMedia’s Favorites
 
Website, Tom Peters Talks with Judy Rosener
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Tags: business, differences, between, men, and, women, working