At the school playground a parent was impressed at my kindergartner tying her own shoe laces. She asked if my daughter could teach her son, which as you can imagine, my daughter was thrilled to show off and help. She asked not because kids learn better from other kids, or he would be more motivated to learn if his classmate could do it, but because both his parents are left-handed and he is not! The instruction set is quite different you see đ. Thatâs a simple case of why diversity in your environment is important, but does not need to come in one size or form!
Extending it to the business world, imagine the use cases they will be missing out on when there is too much similarity in backgrounds. Or maybe we donât have to look too far. We have all seen that health app that was missing the menstrual cycle tracking (isnât that 50% of the user base?) or the credit card readers that need to be swiped on the right side. The diverse thinking in these cases was needed on the design side first, not implementation. That reminds me of another incident at a Women In Tech (WIT) forum at a local university. A English major soon to graduate asked how she could position herself for roles in the tech industry. Does she need to broaden her skill set by taking programming classes? Is there a technology product or service that would not benefit from better messaging on how to use the product or when users run into errors?
This article was shared by someone at my workplace and resonated with me and probably with many fellow qv women.
Here is an excerpt:
If everyone is focused on the nuts and bolts of making software quickly at scale, where will they learn to design it with equity and care? âCritical thinking is what the computers wonât be able to do,â she said.
The writeup and the article by @ Shalini Ramachandra on Diversity is thought provoking. Much has been written about diversity ;Still it is far from what it should be in the real world be it any workplace or any sector
AS a student of Economics and a keen observer of things happening let me air my views. AS i have understood , diversity brings new aspects to an issue . It is a sort of hybridisation which strengthens a product or an issue.
Diversity is not mere representation of a particular segment or section. It is the inclusion and participation of everybody. Everyone brings something to the table. Of course some workable, some non workable, some gainful, some not so, But there is a choice to adapt the best in the interest of the organisation.
In these days of globalisation, worldwide customers , diverse needs and requirements is the order of the day. A diverse culture alone will enable an organisation to understand these needs and address the same.
Study after study has shown that organisations and companies who embrace a range of diverse opinions are in a better position to create better relationships with customers,identify opportunities and react to changes in the market better than those with micro cultures.
Of course diversity costs money.But then the returns are worth it is what business experts say. Yes, Diversity can be difficult too, Behavioral and interaction problems will be there, But then efforts have to be made to overcome these glitches if the organisation is to survive and thrive in the present day market. Localisation is giving way to globalisation.
Every organisation should take diversity to the nest level from where it is now. Becoming accessible to people with disabilities is the first and primary step in this direction and ought to be addressed with immediate effect.
Diversity is no longer a HR thing or it is a feel good thing. It is much deeper than that.One must remember that no organisation is doing any favour to anyone by adopting a diverse culture. It is in its own interest if it wants to change, diversify, innovate, grow and expand.
#diversity#globalisation#HRand diversity#companyinterests#diverseculture#innovate
It was about time someone brought this up! "What do we want from diversity and inclusion?"
And therein lies the primary crux of the issue. When we say diversity and inclusion, are we saying all types of people should have access to this job/ facility or are we saying we need to have a diverse base so that it will bring in diverse voices which will in turn change the way we are doing things (for the better)....This has always been my question about diversity and inclusion too...
I have had women bosses and male bosses and have not really seen a difference. I have had professors of every color and different nationalities in my education across three countries and continents and yet I have not experienced anything from them that I can attribute to their 'diversity factor'. They have stuck to the syllabus and some have been funny and some mega boring but again, that is quite simply their personality.
I think the Google Diversity head has phrased it right - " âTheyâre compelled by the argument that it just isnât fair that more people donât have access to the Google lifeâthe free food and the power and the money,â Bobb said. Their goal is to get more people in the game, not necessarily to change the rules of that game."
When we seek diversity, we need to be clear- do we want everyone to have access to and benefit from this program / intervention or do we want those diverse voices to change the way we are offering this program / intervention. While the answer most will say is "both", we should also know it does not always work that way! Both are ok in their own right, but we have to be clear what it is that we want when we want "diversity" and then go about achieving this.
#whatisdiversity #diversitymatters