Where do I stand on the subject of Diversity?
Everyone talks about diversity, but what does the term mean? I waited outside a classroom in which diversity was being taught (my class was in the same classroom during the following period). When the class ended I entered and passed pleasantries with the African-american instructor. I smiled and indicated I was a member of a minority. She stifled what appeared to be an offensive look, but she did ask in a confronting tone when she asked “And what would that minority be?” I responded, “I am an older person.” She could not disagree, but she was not convinced.
As a business consultant most of my working life, I was constantly faced with problems of diversity: some clients were classic rednecks, some were quite religious in their life’s considerations, some were greedy and self-absorbed, and some were complete jerks.
People have always referred to the “richness” of individual differences found in the USA. I agree, but it was only recently that I understood how individual differences, diversity considerations, and purpose – business, personal, team, etc. – were interrelated. As a subject matter expert in developing and building competent and productive teams, I should have had a proper view on the subject of diversity. I believe I did, but expressing the topic of diversity is now quite clear to me. Let me share it with you.
Diversity should not be limited to groups, rather diversity, as represented by the richness of the myriad individual differences around us, should be more reflective:
“The wide diversity of our many personal differences ought to be considered a rich source for leveraging those differences into solving many or most problems - personal, organizational, team or group, business, political, and problems in general.” (The parentheses are mine).
