Diversity Corner Diversity Dimensions: Working Through the Small Things That Keep Us Apart

Across the US, all large and many small firms have corporate policies affirming diversity, fairness, and equitable treatment. And, most employees go to work each day with a sincere desire to fulfill those core beliefs. Unfortunately, however well intentioned, there is often a divergence between our firm beliefs and our actual responses to others in today’s diverse workplaces.

Not long ago, a group of 28 masters' students at a prestigious university came together for some group training in diversity. They were a picture of diversity in the US today: multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, ranging in age from early twenties to mid-sixties, from urban and rural settings, small towns and uptown. They also had at least two things in common: a professional career devoted to serving others and a personal commitment to diversity, fairness and inclusion that had brought them together that bright sunny morning.

The session facilitator asked each participant to quickly take 1 shape from the pile of colored shapes on the table in front of them. Unbeknownst to the participants, in the mixed pile there were: 9 rectangles: 7 green, 2 orange. There were 9 triangles: 7 purple and 2 green. There were 9 hexagons: 7 orange and 2 purple. And, there was one shape completely unlike the rest - a circular spiral, in a startling and unique color of chartreuse.

"OK, everyone,” said the facilitator, "We’ve got a full, busy session planned. Please move quickly and form some groups - any way you like – while I finish preparing a couple of things. I'll be with you in just a moment." She turned away, and the participants were left to their own devices.

Here's what happened: the students, with these briefest and vaguest of instructions, decided pretty quickly and unanimously how to sort themselves out. The green rectangles became one group, the purple triangles got together pretty quickly, and the orange hexagons gathered together without any hesitation. But what to do with the six people holding the orange rectangles, the green triangles, and the purple hexagons?

"Well, alright, I suppose you can join us," said one self-appointed green rectangle spokesperson reluctantly to the two orange rectangles.

"Can we join you?" said the two purple hexagons to the purple triangle group. "Hmm, well,…" stammered the purple triangles. "Wouldn't you be more comfortable with the hexagons?"

"Oh no, that's not right," said the orange hexagons. And so it went for the two green triangles as well. It wasn't immediately obvious what the best fit was. But eventually the larger groups relented and the six were taken in.

In the minute or so after the facilitator gave instructions and turned away, someone had called out to the chartreuse spiral, "I guess you're on your own!" Everyone laughed, but the message was clear. The spiral ended up alone, watching as the others sorted themselves out.

Less than two minutes had passed. The facilitator turned around to the group, and what she saw was consistent with all the other times she had done the exercise. The students had grouped themselves together by the dominant colors and shapes first, and then struggled to place the differently colored shapes. The chartreuse spiral was left standing alone in its own category. There was no question that these individuals had a strong commitment to values of equality, diversity, mutual respect and inclusion that had brought them – voluntarily – to the diversity training session. What had happened?

They were human beings, being human. What this simple exercise had highlighted is our inherent human preference for staying with what we recognize and understand. The reality is, our natural, subconscious inclination is to understand and work effectively with those who look like, think like, talk like, believe like, act like us.

It's these largely subconscious responses to what we inherently recognize as familiar and "best” and “true” - or unfamiliar, inappropriate and false - that present the next dimension in working with diversity. It's a central theme in Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, the latest book from writer Malcolm Gladwell, and a fascinating look at how our brains make instant judgments - sometimes correct, but sometimes wrong.

Gladwell argues that decisions we make very quickly "can be every bit as good as decisions made cautiously and deliberately." Good news for us impulsive types. But he also notes that sometimes our instincts steer us wrong, particularly when they've been shaped by a society that deals in stereotypes as shorthand for describing our different communities, groupings and identities.

Here's what we humans also do: we favor those who look, act and think like us - whether we happen to be a rectangle, triangle, or a hexagon. It's only natural. But our preferences for certain types of people and behaviors, as well as what we see, perceive, predict and assume about others, can create real challenges. All too often our snap judgments tell us about people of another race, faith, or gender, for example, that we “…know how those people are…” and without thinking, we respond accordingly. The impact can be powerful, as our instantaneous judgments about others often surface as issues of trust and respect, two vital ingredients in effective communication and productivity.

So how do we begin to create more accurate and fair perceptions of those different from ourselves? How do we build skill sets for addressing real-life incidents where subtle but powerful barriers emerge between people? The keys lie in Unpacking the Invisible Briefcase™ we bring to work each day, and little by little identifying and working through the expectations and actions, behaviors, and work structures that subtly keep people at odds and apart from one another.

It’s not about political correctness, helping “us” fix “them” or declaring who's part of the "in" group, and who's part of the "out" group. It's about creating small wins with everyone on board. By working together to build understanding around our perceptions, we can begin to break down the barriers to improved communication and productivity. And that has a real impact on the bottom line.

How do we do that? Stay tuned - we'll get into some specific examples in the next issue of Horizon, with some real life solutions that will help and inspire anyone interested in building a more cohesive, productive, high-performing workplace.

Tasnim McCormick Benhalim is the principal of Diversity Wealth, a firm dedicated to bringing the benefits of diversity and improved productivity to organizations large and small. Among her most popular workshops are Unpacking the Invisible Briefcase™, and the No Fault - No Guilt FYI™, which offer practical insights and a working model for addressing subtle barriers in our diverse workplaces. You can find out more at www.diversitywealth.com.

Kim Malcolm is lead writer at Diversity Wealth, and has a deep interest in diversity issues. A Katy Award winning journalist, she has worked in public broadcasting for ten years, with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, NPR and KERA 90.1 in Dallas/Ft. Worth.

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