3. For many people, “diversity” tends to bring very specific issues to mind.
People often assume that a diversity conversation is going to primarily be
about one or some combination of these things; race relations, gender,
affirmative action, quotas, harassment and compliance. While these
issues are certainly a part of the larger conversation, “diversity” does not
mean any of these things.
Diversity means difference…that is what the word means. We cannot
expect our conversations around issues related to diversity and inclusion
to be actionable and relevant if we are not clear and consistent with our
language.
“Words do matter. Language is messy by nature, which is why
we must be careful in how we use it. As leaders, after all, we
have little else to work with. We typically don't use hammers
and saws to do our real work. The essence of leadership -
what we do with 98 percent of our time - is communication. To
master any practice, we must start by bringing discipline to the
domain in which we spend most of our time, the domain of
words.”
-Peter Senge
5. There are many ways in which we can be different and here are some basic
categories for thinking about difference, each with different implications for work:
Identity Diversity (differences in who we are) including, but not limited to:
• primary dimensions such as orientation, gender, gender identity, race, physical ability, etc.
• secondary dimensions such as marital status, level of education, military experience,
religion, hobbies, geography, income level, etc.
• organizational dimensions such as tenure, department, management status, etc.
Cognitive Diversity (differences in how we think) including, but not limited to:
• perspectives: subjective evaluation, point of view, how things appear to a person
• heuristics: problem solving approach, rules of thumb
• equifinality: openness to other approaches, perspectives
Affective Diversity (differences in how we feel, believe) including, but not limited to:
• emotions: affective state of consciousness
• beliefs: opinion or conviction, confidence in the truth of something not immediately
susceptible to rigorous proof
• values: what is considered to have worth, excellence, usefulness, or importance
Behavioral Diversity (differences in how we behave) including, but not limited to:
• work style: natural patterns for getting our work done
• communication style: natural patterns for communicating with co-workers
• work-life balance: natural patterns of balancing priorities and demands
7. Difference (diversity) is a relational thing. Diversity exists within the
context of relationship…and that is the only place that it exists. You
can only be different from someone else…the relationship is inherent.
That is why this work is largely about relationships…who we have
relationships with and the nature of those relationships. Diversity does
not exist in people, it exists between people…and it exists between all
people. Anytime there is more than one person present, diversity is
also present. This is one of the reasons why the “diversity vs. talent”
debate that bubbles up from time to time is fundamentally
misinformed…talent is an individual attribute, diversity is not. Diversity
(difference) is a relational attribute, shared and social in nature.
You think that because you understand “one,”
you must understand “two,” because one and
one make two. But you must also understand
“and.”
-Sufi saying
9. Difference (diversity) generates change…it is a natural catalyst. Any time
that you introduce additional diversity into a social group or pay more
attention to existing diversity, you will change the dynamics and the
patterns of behavior in that social group (whether it be a family, a
community, a team or an organization), because you are introducing
additional tension into that social group. Whether those changes lead to
positive or negative outcomes depends on the capacity of that social
group to include difference. If you introduce additional difference without
increasing that capacity, you are likely to get outcomes like these:
• increased us vs. them mentality
• increased stereotyping
• increased in-group favoritism
• increased inter-group conflict
• decreased employee satisfaction, performance, and retention
Unfortunately, when this happens, organizations and communities (and
organizational and community leaders) often misdiagnose what has
happened and conclude that diversity has caused these outcomes,
whereas it is actually a product of the container that the diversity has been
introduced to. This is why understanding inclusion is so important.
10. 5
inclusion is the
action you take to
include difference
11. All social groups (families, communities, organizations, etc.) are
inherently conformist. They have a natural resistance to difference
and change. Organizations do things (intentional and unintentional,
explicit and implicit) to keep difference out, and they do things
(intentional and unintentional, explicit and implicit) to reduce or
remove the difference of what “gets inside.”
Inclusion is the actions that you take to include difference. Some
organizations are more inclusive than others, the key is to have an
accurate understanding of how inclusive your organizations is so
that you can be intentional and deliberate about the direction you
are moving. Inclusion is incredibly important, as it is one of the
characteristics of an organizations culture, that determines its
ability to utilize the resources that it has access to, especially the
human resources and the associated intangible assets such as
perspectives, experiences, ideas, curiosity, etc.
How much and what kinds of difference can your team, community
organization include? And what evidence of this do you have?
13. To truly include difference requires sharing power, in a relationship
of equals.Unless an organization is aggressive and deliberate
about minimizing them, power and privilege dynamics make
inclusion very difficult. When power is not shared and one party
has to do all of the accommodating, the relationship is not dialogic
and inclusion is not happening. What was different is forced to
conform, rather than naturally and organically interacting with the
existing culture, changing it and being changed by it, with both
parties doing some of the accommodating. Again, difference is
relational and diversity and inclusion work is largely about the
nature of our relationships…so what kind of relationship are you
inviting difference into? Who does the accommodating?
Companies that learn to harness the value of
decentralized power will win against those that
simply exploit their people to perform specific
tasks.
-Nilofer Merchant, The New How
15. The more difference that you include, the more intersections you
create…whether they be intersections of different people, politics,
or professions. Intersections give life to new things. Sparks are
thrown at those intersections where perspectives, assumptions,
cultures, ideas and questions collide and this is what lights the fires
of creativity and innovation.
While there is great creative opportunity at these intersections,
there is also tension. Anytime you bring difference together
(regardless the kind of difference) you create tension. If you want to
include more diversity and actually reap the rewards that diversity
offers, you have to be willing and able to work with and through the
tension. This determines whether the natural tension gives life to
conflict or creativity.
Our time is a time for crossing barriers, for
erasing old categories, for probing around.
-Marshall McLuhan
17. Inclusion of something or someone that is different is proactive and it
is disruptive tothe status quo. It is a constant struggle against our
social drive toward conformity. It is also a struggle against our own
human nature, because even if we aspire to be nonjudgmental,” we
can easily end up with skewed perceptions and interpretations of the
behavior of others, especially those we believe to be different from us.
Regardless of our good intentions, our level of education or our level of
professionalism, we are all very susceptible to being unintentionally
and even unconsciously influenced by things like assumptions,
stereotypes, implicit associations, attribution errors and cognitive
biases. We are actually very ill equipped to reach accurate
assessments of others and this is part of what makes it very difficult for
us to actually be inclusive. If we are not proactive, intentional and
deliberate about including difference, we will unintentionally be
exclusive.
We do not see things as they are, we see things
as we are.
-Anais Nin
18. 9
diversity and
inclusion can be
rich sources of
value
19. Don’t believe the hype! Contrary to what you might have heard, the “business case for
diversity and inclusion” is stronger than ever. A few of the reasons why this work can be so
valuable to our organizations and communities:
1. survival: one of the characteristics of organizations that outlast their competitors;
“…openness to the outside world, tolerance for the entry of new individuals and ideas, and
consequently a manifest ability to learn and adapt to new circumstances.” (Arie de Geus )
2. competitive advantage: for many organizations the great opportunity for competitive
advantage is innovation, and diversity and inclusion are what innovation is made of.
3. generational transition: we are on the front end of an unprecedented generational
transition and organizations will need to understand generational differences to successfully
navigate.
4. workforce demographics: the demographics of the workforce have changed and
organizations not good at attracting, engaging and retaining women and people of color are
going to be competing for an increasingly small portion of the talent available.
5. new consumer profile: the profile of the decision maker is changing and organizations
wanting to capture emerging markets will need to be able to partner with and truly
understand those markets.
6. better problem solving: diversity, especially cognitive diversity has been shown to
improve a groups ability to explore a broader set of options and to solve complex
challenges
7. conformity kills: too much conformity can be a really bad thing allowing small technical
issues to develop into large scale tragedies. A focus on diversity and inclusion helps
minimize conformity.
21. Diversity and inclusion may be the most poorly understood set of
issues in the world of work today. Many organizations and
communities struggle to even have effective discussions about issues
related to diversity and inclusion often due, at least partially, to a lack of
common language and shared understanding of core concepts.
Everyone is using the same words, but talking about very different
things. Organizational diversity and inclusion work faces a number of
challenges today, but the greatest challenge before us may very well be
lack of clarity.
We do not need universally agreed upon definitions and priorities, but
the mistake that organizations nearly always make is deciding to do
some diversity and inclusion work without clarifying, within that
organization, what diversity means, what inclusion means, why those
things matter and how the plan of action is aligned with and builds
upon that foundational understanding.
What looks like resistance is often a lack of
clarity.
-Switch, Dan and Chip Heath
22. the value of difference
joe gerstandt is a speaker and facilitator helping
organizations and communities deliver on their
promises…
authenticity | diversity | inclusion | innovation
joegerstandt.com
joe.gerstandt@gmail.com
@joegerstandt
402.740.7081