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Retro-wish; mourn past TO Embrace diversity, expect dynamic |
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The world is constantly changing. Alvin Toffler explains, "[T]he relationships of classes, races, genders, professions, nations, and other social grouping are incessantly altered by shifts in population, ecology, technology, culture and other factors. These changes lead to conflict and translate into redistribution of power resources." (POWERSHIFT, 468) We are tempted to react by trying to stall redistributions from happening, or else deny they are happening. We would be better off if we embraced the inevitable changes and worked creatively with them in order to find a "win-win" situation. The wind of change is ubiquitous; if we can accept and welcome it then we can set our own course instead of being buffeted about by random draughts.
The same forces that drive violent and bloody wars around the world (witness ethnic cleansing) drive our society today. These forces can be seen in the debates over California’s Propositions 187 and 209, for example. Peaceful resolution requires a society-wide unlearning, a mass discarding of mental models and cognitive maps. At the level of the organization, we can embrace diversity in the Darwinian sense. We can embrace it because it makes our organization more responsive to our customers and more in tune with the winds that are blowing change across the globe. We can embrace it because variation makes us resilient. Or we can embrace diversity because we truly value the differences among people. Either way, organizations that value and pursue diversity will have an advantage over those that don’t. Either way, it is imperative that organizations and leaders keep their fingers on the pulse of the world by keeping informed about local and global demographic trends. They must accept that the world has changed, and will continue to change, with or without them, and learn to use change to their advantage. |
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retro-wish, mourn past > embrace diversity, expect dynamic
Joel Barker, THE POWER OF PARADIGMS |
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Carolyn Loch, Labor, Business Praise Report on Workforce, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE (June 2, 1994) at A2. Clinton administration’s report says labor rules must be changed to address nationwide demographic changes. John P. Fernandez, Diversity Delivers Competitive Advantage, EXECUTIVE EXCELLENCE (May 1995) at 20. The author of THE DIVERSITY ADVANTAGE tells organizations why a diverse organizational culture has many advantages, but warns that none of these advantages can be realized unless the individuals within the culture learn to "...understand, value and trust one another." Robert V. Elam, Voices of reason and compassion, MODESTO BEE (March 9, 1995) at A11. The importance of looking at the world through a reasoned and compassionate lens. K.C. Cole, Brain’s Use of Shortcuts Can Be a Route to Bias, L.A.TIMES (May 1, 1995) at A1. How the human brain uses quick judgments as a survival mechanism, yet quick judgments about people based on circumstantial evidence are often faulty. People who consciously curb this natural reaction avoid internalizing incorrect assumptions that lead to misvaluation of people and poor judgment. V.S. Naipaul, Our Universal Civilization, NEW YORK TIMES (Nov. 5, 1990) at A15. The author’s travel abroad leads to new understanding of the human spirit. Linda Chavez, Diversity’s the name, spending’s the game, USA TODAY (Sept. 28, 1994) at 14A. Ineffective training programs create more problems than they solve. The author advocates replacing expensive federal employee diversity training with "a dose of common sense." Thomas Crum. THE MAGIC OF CONFLICT: TURNING A LIFE OF WORK INTO A WORK OF ART, Touchstone/Simon & Schuster (1987). How to turn conflict into opportunity through the principle centered approach of Aiki. A stress reduction strategy based on akido, the Japanese martial art and mind-body discipline, Aiki is a useful technique for turning stress into constructive energy. Charles Petit, Scientists Call Race Insignificant, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE (Feb. 20, 1995) at A1. A panel of evolutionary biologists, philosophers, anthropologists, and geneticists find that the utility of race as a controlling variable or useful descriptor is very low. Jose Luis Villegas, Coming To Sacramento: capital’s ethnic, cultural landscape reshaped, SACRAMENTO BEE (A Special Report) (Sept. 17, 1995) at 1. The Bee looks at the impacts of the 100,000-200,000 foreign-born people living in an environment where religious differences, racial strife and Prop. 187 loom large, and what this means for Sacramento’s future. Sanford J. Ungar, Enough of the Immigrant Bashing, USA TODAY (Oct. 11, 1995) at 11A. The author dismantles myths about immigrants. George Ramos, Study sees immigrants as long-term assets, L.A. Times (June 10, 1996) at A3. The author explores one of several studies concluding that immigrants provide California with net benefits; the Wilson administrative and others offer criticism. Dan Walters, We’re testing change for the U.S., SACRAMENTO BEE (undated). A nation anticipating change should watch and learn from California as the state struggles to deal with massive demographic change. |