Diversity dare I say, is hard. Racial diversity in many respects is easy. The obvious often is. But alas, there is much more to the story.
The term diversity has become exhaustively used to become diluted to the point that we seldom see our own problems with the living of the word. I’m okay but you’re not.
We want others to see us and hear us ….. but we never mind our lack of attempting to see and hear others.
For some people, diversity is a legal imperative. And for others, I allow for a simple yet important misunderstanding. Diversity is a powerful word respecting diverse points of view. We need opposing viewpoints. My greatest moments of growth have been when my premise was challenged.
The Maya Angelou quote below is a remark in my view of the subtleties of hate. Diversity the big word with a small “d”.
Tom Peters gives an excellent explanation for diversity that is locked in generally on what we see. Yet not on what WE SEE. Writes Tom Peters, “But I want to talk about a different kind of diversity for just a minute, and that different kind of diversity is what I call lowercase “d” diversity. The shorthand of what I’m about to say is if you mix stuff up on any dimensions whatsoever—short people, tall people, left-handed people, right-handed people, people from universities, people with third grade as their last year of education— mix it up and you get a better way to address problems, better answers, etc.”
Hatred ignores the bigger picture. If there is any one thing to hate it is hate. Let me know your opinion. And oh, thank you for sharing.
Traditionally, there were the terms synergy and force multiplier. When you look at what made these work and how they impacted massive large amounts of people you found at the heart of it were shared values. Diversity, big “D” or little “D” only works when there is some common set of values that everyone supports and are passionate about. Diversity for diversity sake often results in fractured camps that create too much friction working with each other. This disrupts all the great things a diverse amount of people can accomplish.