#2 Why we all want to fit in - covering up at the workplace

Good news. You can relax! 'Diversity and inclusion' is not actually about 'diversity'. Rather, it's about our tendency as human beings to conform to a collective way of appearing, acting and – worst of all – thinking. This is what social scientists call 'homophilia' – our love for sameness.

Why do we need to be aware of this? Studies shows that people experience psychological safety and trust and, well, feel comfortable when surrounded with people who are similar to ourselves. The problem arises when we cover up those aspects of our identity that, seemingly, do not conform to the general norm of sameness.

Some aspects are alright to cover up and hide when you are at work, if you for example are a huge Ninja Turtle fan. However, what if you unconsciously cover up more important aspects of yourself in order to fit in? Will that affect your motivation to contribute to innovative solutions and go against popular opinion when that is exactly what is needed to avoid group-think and foresee possible problems that others haven't thought of?

In this episode, we have anthropologist and chief consultant from LIVING INSTITUTE Kasper Jelsbech Knudsen and Louise from the FINTEC world in the studio talking and sharing their own experiences with covering at the workplace.

Spend 9 minutes – you might find out that you are also covering certain aspects of yourself which might greatly help bring about better results for you and your organisation.