Biases Start Wars—They Also Create Daily Roadblocks!

Extreme and the Everyday Are More Connected Than You Think.

Welcome to Edition #002 of People Please! My goal with this newsletter is to help 100,000 professionals shift from "people pleasers" to culture-builders.

In People Please #001, I shared a story from West Africa about confronting my own biases and a powerful lesson from Benin.

What’s Inside Edition #002:

🔹 Section 1: A Story: A Lesson in Bias and Power —For all
How deep-rooted biases have shaped some of history’s darkest events and how the extreme and the everyday are more connected than you think.

Estimated Reading Time: 3 mins

🔹 Section 2 – Blueprint for Organisations: For HR & L&D Professionals
A practical guide to designing effective bias training programs, featuring real-world examples.

Estimated Reading Time: 6 mins (with videos)

🔹 Section 3 - Unlocking Myself: For Individual Contributors
How addressing personal biases can accelerate your career growth.

Estimated Reading Time: 2 mins

This edition is packed with actionable insights for every role—let’s dive in! 🚀

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🔹 Section 1: The Story of Holocaust: A Lesson in Bias and Power

During World War II (1939–1945), Nazi Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, systematically murdered six million Jews and millions of others deemed "undesirable," including Roma people, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ individuals, political opponents, and Slavic populations, many of whom were Soviet citizens.

Every victim of the Holocaust carried deep scars. But does past suffering ever justify new cycles of violence? When the oppressed gain power, do they dismantle systems of discrimination—or perpetuate them?

History shows us that bias can shift sides, turning former victims into perpetrators.

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When Victims Become Perpetrators

The Soviet Union, once a victim of Nazi aggression, later became responsible for mass oppression and atrocities against various ethnic groups and regions.

While the USSR fought against Hitler’s fascism, it went on to commit forced deportations, political purges, and mass executions. Many of these actions were part of Joseph Stalin’s brutal policies during and after World War II (he ruled from the late 1920s until his death in 1953). These policies did not just affect Soviet-controlled territories but also devastated its own people.

Stalin's regime was responsible for more deaths than Hitler's Holocaust. While the Holocaust led to the murder of approximately 6 million Jews and millions of others, Stalin’s policies—including purges, forced labor camps (Gulags), and engineered famines—caused an estimated 15 to 20 million deaths. These atrocities occurred across Ukraine, the Baltic states, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and parts of present-day Russia.

While Hitler's genocide was a deliberate racial extermination campaign, Stalin’s mass killings were politically motivated, targeting perceived enemies of the state, ethnic minorities, and even loyal communists.

Just like the Nazi regime, the Soviet Union justified these actions in the name of state security and control—punishing entire populations.

Does this not reflect the very oppression it once fought against?

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Those who endure injustice face a choice: to break the cycle or to continue it.

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How Bias Leads to Dehumanisation—The Link Between Genocide (Extreme) and Workplaces (Everyday)

While the Holocaust and Soviet purges are seen as extreme events, their roots lay in seemingly minor actions—negative stereotypes, propaganda, exclusionary practices, and a culture that justified discrimination.

This pattern exists in workplaces too. Small biases—dismissive jokes, exclusion, and unfair policies—can create toxic cultures, leading to systemic discrimination.

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Just as history warns us, ignoring micro-aggressions today can lead to greater harm tomorrow. Preventing workplace injustice starts with addressing bias early.

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🔹 Section 2: Blueprint for Organisations

In workplaces, biases escalate through four stages, but early intervention can prevent the harm. Let’s explore these stages and how to prevent the spread.

Stages of Escalation

1. Micro-aggressions: Small Actions That Lead to Big Consequences

   • What are micro-aggressions?
     Micro-aggressions are subtle comments or actions that may seem harmless but can make someone feel excluded or disrespected—often based on their gender, background, or identity.

   • Before the Holocaust:
     Jews and other marginalised groups faced everyday slights, stereotypes, and social exclusion—small acts of bias that ultimately fuelled widespread discrimination.

   • 📌 Preventing Extremes in the Workplace:
     Set a zero-tolerance culture for jokes or comments that target gender, background, or identity. What seems minor today can foster exclusion and escalate over time. The term micro-aggression is still new in the workplace and requires immediate awareness. To drive engagement, it's crucial to use non intimidating, more accessible mediums. One such medium is comics. Here’s an example from Be.artsy’s Micro-Aggression Awareness Campaign:

     

2. Institutionalised Bias: When Prejudice Becomes Policy

   • Before the Holocaust:

     What started as everyday bias turned into systemic discrimination. The Nuremberg Laws stripped Jews of their citizenship and fundamental rights, embedding prejudice into law.

   • 📌 Preventing Extremes in the Workplace:
     Bias can seep into policies and decisions, leading to unfair evaluations, restricted access to opportunities, or exclusion from leadership based on identity. Organisations must establish fair systems that recognise talent over stereotypes. Leaders, decision-makers, and hiring teams should undergo rigorous bias training tailored to align with organisational goals and address existing gaps.

     

3. Discrimination: When Bias Turns into Systemic Exclusion

   • Before the Holocaust:
     Prejudice escalated into full-scale discrimination—Jews were forced into ghettos, denied jobs, and ultimately deported to concentration camps.

   • 📌 Preventing Extremes in the Workplace:
     Unchecked bias can lead to persistent exclusion, workplace harassment, and career roadblocks for certain groups. Organisations must actively promote inclusion, conduct bias training and awareness programs, ensure fair treatment, and hold individuals accountable for bias-driven decisions. For example, start with something as basic as an e-module on understanding biases. Here is a short excerpt from Be.artsy’s Bias Training Module:

4. Dehumanisation and Atrocity: When Bias Erodes Humanity

   • Before the Holocaust: Unchecked prejudice escalated into one of history’s greatest atrocities—the Holocaust—where entire communities were stripped of their rights, dignity, and lives.

   • 📌 Preventing Extremes in the Workplace:
     A toxic culture makes way for bullying, harassment, and exploitation, leaving employees feeling powerless. Leaders must invest resources, establish a strong task force, and implement annual awareness programs for both white- and blue-collar workers across all locations. Delivering these sessions in regional languages ensures deeper impact and inclusivity.

   • Here’s an example from Royal Enfield, which recently introduced Bias Training at its Corporate Office.

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🔹 Section 3: Unlocking Myself:

The “I Know It All” Syndrome: Career Killer

The “I know it all” mindset can silently hold you back. When you believe your knowledge is complete and unquestionable, you create blind spots, limit your growth, and shut down diverse perspectives—ultimately stalling your career.

What Biases Are You Falling Into?

1. Confirmation Bias – You only seek information that supports what you already believe while ignoring opposing views.
   👉 Example: You stick to the same sales strategies because they worked before, even when new data shows customer preferences are changing. Meanwhile, your competitors adapt—and outperform you.

2. Authority Bias – You assume experience or seniority always means correctness and you dismiss your suggestions.
   👉 Example: Your manager insists on an outdated process, and you hesitate to suggest a new approach because "they must know better." As a result, inefficiencies continue at work.

3. Overconfidence Bias – You believe you already know enough and don’t need to update your knowledge, leading to poor decisions.
   👉 Example: You skip training on a new tool, thinking you’ve mastered your field. But when the industry shifts, you struggle to keep up, and your opportunities shrink.

4. Status Quo Bias – You resist change simply because "this is how things have always been done."
   👉 Example: You ignore feedback on making your hiring process more inclusive, believing the current system works fine. Over time, your team lacks diversity, and innovation suffers.

🚨 The result of the “I Know It All” Syndrome? Missed opportunities, outdated skills, and watching your role become redundant as others advance.

Shifting from “I know it all” to “What more can I learn?” will set you apart and keep you ahead in your career.

“Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.” —Howard Zinn

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Best | Shikha Mittal | Founder, Be.artsy