THE DIVERSITY PARADOX
Diversity matters. We all get that from a human point of view. But it also makes a big difference to a business’s bottom line. Hiring, welcoming and celebrating different ways of thinking is good for business, great for customers and a smart way to keep smart people for longer. It’s a no brainer.
So if diversity is so important, why is it so hard to get it right? We’ve done some reading on this and here’s what we’ve learned about how people tick – and why individual differences are easy to celebrate but hard to accept. That’s why we called it the Diversity Paradox.
WHAT’S DIVERSITY?
Diversity is built on the understanding that every individual is unique and always brings a valuable and different perspective to the wider team. These differences might be informed by our gender, culture, identity, ability, life-stage, background or something else. But the whole idea is that our differences help us think and act in broader, more inclusive ways.
But diversity is an outcome not an input. You can’t become diverse by hiring a diversity of people. You build diversity by valuing what they bring. It’s not what you do, it’s what you do, together.
So what makes it hard?
THE PROBLEM IS PEOPLE.
Not just the sexist, racist, intolerant and phobic people. It’s all of us. While the success of humanity is our sociability, we’re genetically programmed to seek sameness. That’s why we’re most often attracted to people who ‘look like us’. We find it hard to feel empathy where we can’t find similarities. And as much as we listen and learn and explore other cultures, we don’t know what we don’t know and innately fear what we don’t understand. While business works best with diversity, diversity can also make people feel uncomfortable.
THE PROBLEM IS FEAR.
Another key issue in the drive for diversity is the power of fear. Not just the fear of the unknown or someone unlike me. But, increasingly the fear of social stigma. “I’m not sure how to pronounce your name and I don’t want to be seen to get it wrong, so I’m just going to dodge around it – is that okay?” We’ve all seen it. Many of us have done it. You may feel the same about a mihi, or accurate pronunciation of Māori place names. If you’re worried about stuffing it up, it’s better not try, right?
THE PROBLEM IS GROUP-THINK.
Another interesting road-bump is the confusion between assimilation and inclusion. Both big words (they all are in social science) but simple meanings. Inclusion talks to a group that rewards individual authenticity and diversity, whereas assimilation rewards conformity within the group. The latter is easier to achieve and achieves far less. “We certainly don’t question the colour of your skin or your gender or the people you choose to love – just as long as you speak our language on this bus, with us.” – How many of us have been in meetings like that?
THE SOLUTION ISN’T CELEBRATING DIFFERENCE…
The other clear paradox of diversity lies in our passion for celebrating difference. This well-intentioned acknowledgment of specialness can so easily slip into tokenism and ‘virtue signaling’. Seems like the calendar is full of different days for different peoples. Rainbows for pride, dancing through Diwali – and gumboots as an external symbol of solidarity with internal struggle. It’s become such a thing. You just need to check your socials to work out whose big day it is today. And this proliferation of special days for special people, ironically makes all of them less special.
But there is a method in the madness. While these events can carve people up into different groups, they also pull people together. They’re an opportunity to share different experiences and discover more ways where we’re all just the same.
THE SOLUTION IS SHARING OUR EXPERIENCE.
While diversity talks to difference, we reckon the biggest win is in celebration of our sameness. We might come from different backgrounds, hang with different people or worship different deities – but there’s more that makes us similar than makes us different.
So even as we take the time to broaden our horizons and take on new perspectives from people who don’t think quite like us – it’s the many ways in which they think the same that makes that possible. And that’s the real paradox of diversity.
That’s what I reckon, what do you think?