Correlated Facts, Science, and
Observations of Life
Let's Make It Real
In the daily news cycle, where the world seems to be going crazy, an average person doesn't have the time or energy to deal with the Diversity Issue. It is wrapped in a "mean history" of horrible words and pictures of abuses, slavery, genocide, etc.
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The problem in that we keep focusing on painful historical issues ...
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"Get Over It" is the general narrative of the significant portion of the dominant culture of the United States. These people are in a narrow cultural mindset which includes a restricted view of what is "normal" ... their world view.
Most importantly, and even when its usage is appropriate, most reasoned people don't want to feel they're being labelled a Racist, when they are really being made aware of their unconscious biases.
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However, we must all be aware of these biases, as they may only mean that one has low Cultural Sensitivity. This can be the case if, for example, one has only lived and worked in homogenous and/or limited social settings where only one culture is represented.
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Cultural Sensitivity, in the modern world of expanded social interactions that come from modern communications and collaboration, is more important now than ever.
Cultural Insensitivity is one of the great causes of lost human potential AND lost economic productivity and social progress in this country, if not the world.
"Around 70% of diversified businesses are better equipped to take advantage of new opportunities." We are becoming dependent on products and services made and supported from anywhere in the world. You cannot build a wall around the modern communications infrastructre. You are meeting with, buying from, selling to, supporting, working, and becomings friends with an unpreceindented number of cultures (people of different cultures).
"Get Over It!" From being called "brother" and "homey" by people with which you have no social relationship, to getting the long "just swallowed my tongue" stare when you walk into a restaurant, to having security follow you around a Whole Foods or Nordstroms, to having your successful career questioned … the hits just keep coming. Unconscious biases are passed along, as the osmosis (from parent to child) from the day-to-day life of one's origin's. They include inheriting and projecting second and third hand "gossip" without asking for or experiencing truth and context. Parents, neighbors, friends, especially in the comfort of a dominant culture in its own element. The rubs and insults run from subtle to sublime to outright in-you-face "you can't "be as good as me" comments and attitudes … these Microaggressions pile up into an ambient anger and mistrust. Most people haven't had access and training (or therapy) to develop the emotional tools for coping with these attitudes that are projected towards them throughout their lives. There is no "getting over it", as one might say. There is only the emotional survival instinct to be sensitive and cautions. It is the natural reaction, and adds to what one must overcome in their day-to-day life. To fight back and attempt engagement, especially in non-dependent, non-business, and/or in transactional social settings only creates a "race to the bottom" conversation. It may even set one on the course to conflict … which further reinforces negative stereotypes about how members of non-dominant cultures can "fit into our culture". This inhibits any chance of true trust, collaboration, friendships and partnerships. You can't "Build a Wall" in a modern technological globally connecetd society. You can only facilitate social walls around yourself, the ultimate way to inhibit growth and progress. The good news, is all one has to do is evolve and understand the value, productivity, and necessity integration of cultures in today's world … business and social.
The Universal Benefits
The purpose of this web site is to provide a resource that will facilitate some knowledge and provoke your thoughts. It is based of several academic, scientific, and industry sources.
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It is also reinforced by the life experiences of this sites founders and many of their peers.
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Breaking these barriers will help every individual become more collaborative in business and social situations.
The reality is that the cliche "the world is getting smaller ..." is very much facilitated my modern communications, specifically as we get exposed to and interact with the many world cultures and become friends, collaborators and team members, sellers and customers of just about every product imaginable.
It is our opinion and the result of the didactic and academic research of these observers of painful life experiences that the world is, for lack of a better term, "tone deaf" to the issues branded as DEI "Diversity Equity and Inclusion".
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It therefore seems reasonable, if not imperative, to introduce the DEI narrative through a lens that focusses on Cultural Sensitivity. Why change? Doing the same DEI things over and over and expecting different results is a definition of insanity.
Orgins - 1996 The Harvard Business Review published an article in its September-October 1996 issue called "Making Differences Matter: A new Paradigm for Managing Diversity." For the purpose of this "instructional" platform, it's issues and conclusions are believed to carry That article's research and field common theme across all social and societal environments and situations, It was authored by David A. Thomas (The then president of Morehouse College and Professor Emeritus at Harvard Business School, and former dean of Georgetown's McDonough School of Business) and Robin J. Ely (The then Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and the faculty chair of the HBS Gender Initiative). The Thomas and Ely findings were based on a three-part research effort that began in 1990. They surveyed failures of diversity initiatives and their essentially flawed (and intellectually lazy) "counting heads" efforts of promoting diversity by simply employing different and traditionally underrepresented "identity groups" and making a very simplified and convenient set of assumptions about "assimilation." Their analysis centered on the simple perspective that "Diversity should be understood as the varied perspectives and approaches to work that members of different diversity groups bring." Their seminal point was: "[Members of non-dominant cultures] bring different, important, organizational efficiencies, and business competitively relevant knowledge and perspectives about how to actually do work - how to design processes, reach goals, frame tasks, create effective teams, communicate ideas, and lead. When allowed to, members of these groups can help companies grow and improve by challenging basic assumptions about an organization’s functions, strategies, operations, practices, and procedures. " Essentially, the social, societal, and business competitive advantages of potential and likely dominant culture "group think" comes from being exposed to and accepting of people that look and think differently. They went beyond "Fairness" doctrines and evangelized that the true benefit of diversity is using a "cultural learning and effectiveness paradigm." Essential the leverage of productivity and competitive advantages, come from true acceptance and collaboration. All people have to do is become openminded and evolve to the realities of living in "smaller world" where walls, fears, and lazy thinking will not support a free and open society. The authors describe "The Emerging Paradigm: Connecting Diversity to Work Perspectives", with key points (summarized) of the leadership and people recommendations include: The embodiment of different perspectives and approaches that truly value variety of opinion and insight ; That there are opportunities and challenges where there are different perspectives; where there is openness; and where all participants feel valued.
"The true definition of a snob is one who craves for what separates [people] rather than for what unites them." John Buchan