Don’t fall for the authenticity trap
Your taco doesn't have to be made by a Mexican to taste good.
I’m sure most of you readers will have already heard the joke about heaven and hell. But here it is again. It makes a useful backdrop about something that I’m always frustrated by — the authenticity trap.
Heaven:
The police are British
The cooks are French
The engineers are German
The administrators are Swiss
The lovers are Italian
Hell:
The police are German
The cooks are British
The engineers are Italian
The administrators are French
The lovers are Swiss
I’m sure if you were in this joke, you might be surprised by the results. Heaven might look like hell and hell a little like heaven. Why? Well, stereotypes based on nationalities or most very general human characteristics are usually wrong both statistically and experientially. There are plenty of great British cooks. Plenty of fine Swiss lovers. Plenty of bad French cooks. Plenty of horrible Italian lovers.
We call this the “authenticity trap” — thinking that someone is good at something based on their innate characteristics and not their experience, effort, motivation etc … We fall for this trap all the time, almost every day. In the workplace, out shopping, at school — everywhere, every place and every moment. And it is wrong.
Of course, we don’t fall for the unsubtle, immoral, out-of-fashion parts of the authenticity trap. Of course, not all people of color are good at basketball. Not all Asians are great with numbers. Not all females are loving mothers. I’d never fall for that or think that!
However, many still do and what’s more, many people still fall for the more subtle, softer but still wrong-headed aspects of the authenticity trap. Let me explain and share a few examples.
For example sushi. Let’s go out and get some sushi. How about Merlin’s for sushi? “No!”, you say. “The owner and chef isn’t Japanese, he’s Mexican.”
Now, are all the best sushi chefs Japanese? Turns out, they aren’t. Learning to make great sushi doesn’t take, being Japanese. Turns out with effort, patience and talent — one can be Mexican and be the best sushi chef in the world. And let me add, the same goes for making pizza — you don’t have to be Italian to make a great pizza. Same with kimchee, borscht or tacos.
Another example. I was talking to my friend about the meat industry in the midwest. We were discussing why there were so many Guatemalans working in the chicken farms. He told me that Americans weren’t good at catching chickens. They weren’t fast enough, short enough etc … REALLY! And this friend of mine is smart, a bank manager, managing dozens of employees. Seems he’s fallen into the authenticity trap.
The last example (but the world is so full of these traps). My field is English language teaching. All over the world, for many decades, people have been craving to learn the English language and access the job opportunities, travel opportunities, the international world that it offers. So far so good …
However, my field is rife with white, unskilled “native speaking” English teachers in schools all over the world (and in the computerverse nowadays too). And why so? Well, there is a mistaken belief that someone who speaks English from birth is somehow magically, authentically, the best and top teacher possible. Everyone’s fallen for the authenticity trap.
Turns out, just because you were learned English the first few months or years of life, doesn’t mean you are a great or even good teacher. Turns out, there are so many other qualities that a teacher must have to be successful. Plus, English teachers shouldn’t be hired just as human tape recorders, parrots, marble statues — there is a lot more to teaching than sounding out words or looking the expected “English” part.
Yet, this stereotype persists. People still fall for the authenticity trap. Go figure?
I’m not trying to pick a fight (I’m Canadian! Oops!). I’m just hoping hiring managers, business professionals, mothers, teachers, firemen, customers, chefs and chauffeurs and anyone with a head on their shoulders — stops and thinks for a second when they make a decision. Stops and asks, “Is this part of the authenticity trap?”
I think if we did — the world would be a much fairer, more meritocratic, more logical and sane place. Just saying.
Now, where are we going for that sushi?