Diversity in Business

Diversity in Business

I have read many books on the importance of diversity in the workplace. Not only does it promote creativity, it also provides a means of counteracting group-think. I have had the importance pounded into my brain at every seminar and training session I have attended. Just as we diversify our portfolios, we must also diversify our lives and circles to engage a new perspective.

What is diversity? I have heard it called many things; schools of thought, background, caste, sex, sexual orientation, race and even religion. These can all be true, but one interesting point I have never heard made that I feel may be germane to the conversation is age.

As a society we tend to generally associate gray hairs with wisdom and (Gray Hair = Wisdom?) years of experience. While this may be true, an old Greek proverb says, "Gray hair is a sign of age, not wisdom." While gray hairs do prove life experience they are not proof of good life experiences. The transient guy in the street corner may have gray hair, but you may not want to ask him what the meaning of life is.

So why do we associate gray hair with life experience and wisdom? Maybe it is the remembrance of a great-grandfather giving us sage advice as we sat on his lap as a child. There is something in our past that tells us older people are full of wisdom and certainty. I am not saying to disrespect our elders, but rather not to distinguish someone by their hair color as we don't discriminate against the color of one's skin.     

So then in a group, circle of friends or workplace how do we create diversity? Maybe it starts with an introspective look into our groups, colleagues and work force to see what we are lacking. If everyone in your group is under 30 years old, consider bringing in someone with gray hair. If you are in a group that remembers the great depression, maybe its time to bring in a young face.

Life is about balance and when we can be honest with ourselves and live consciously, we can bring in the balance needed to diversify and promote our organizations.

Behavioral Changes

When someone cuts us off in traffic we don't act in a way that is abnormal to our conditioning. We have a response ready to go that has been ingrained in us long before we could drive.The first time someone cut us off we responded as we saw someone else do or as we think is appropriate. While current state of mind and the outlook on the day can increase or diminish these responses they have been programmed in us. 
So how do we get past these ingrained actions and create newer and better responses?

• Acknowledge the programming
• Understand why we do what we do
• Make a conscious effort to change the behaviour
• Continue to improve the behavior and outcomes 

While these may seem like simple steps you can do in a day or a week. It is not quite that simple. These traits or scripts have been written deep into the gray matter of our minds. Some experts believe that we can form new habits in 7 days while others maintain it can take up to 30.

Pick a habit that you currently have, something easy, like what do you do when you get home from work. What do you do in the morning. Take an easy example and try these simple steps out for 30 days.

Were you able to change the behavior, why or why not? What triggers did you find that made you feel safe or at peace when you did them? What made you uncomfortable? Now go a little deeper and try to remember why these new or different actions resulted in these feelings?

People have frames in their minds that create who they are and the way they see. When you can identify why you can or cannot change a behavior, you can begin to understand the why.

Discount Requests

While we may not notice them, we are surrounded by negotiation opportunities every day. I was on a shopping trip recently with a friend at a large box retailer. As guys we found what we needed rather quickly and proceeded to the checkout. At the register I asked the employee if there were any discounts that she would be able to give me for our purchases. She said no one had ever asked her that before and called for a manager. The manager seemed lost when I restated my question to him.

Remember just asking for a discount isn't necessarily the end goal. What you are trying to do is improve your buying experience and give the retailer an opportunity to make a lasting impression. I have heard and read many stories from employees who have the discount question asked of them often. Many times it is rudely stated and results in a lose-lose situation for the store and employee and the customer.

Common courtesy and respect cannot be lost when attempting this form of negotiation tactic. You can reach a win-win situation without getting what you originally asked for. Respectfully inquiring or demanding a discount due to the economy/weather/horoscope are entirely different approaches and will result in completely different outcomes.

Be polite, courteous and kind! You are not trying to make a hard sell, you are asking for something that you dont necessarily deserve.

I was given the first discount this manager had ever given due to following the rules of negotiation and not being demanding.

With these in mind try them on your next shopping trip. 

Negotiation from Academia to Practice

The Professor walks in the quite and relatively small classroom and starts once again to try to undo 16 years of training. The Professor is thin of medium height with salt and pepper hair cut in military fashion. Though medium height, he commands respect and the attention of all who are in the same room with him. We are now in week 8 of 16 and we are facing the same problem we faced 8 weeks ago.

In theory we are supposed to challenge everything presented to us and make no assumptions, however that is turning out to be a harder feat than first expected. Via questions we are supposed to diplomatically question him and everything he assigns us. Over the last 16 years of our life we have been taught to obey authority figures, the penalty of our disobedience shame or even jail. How do we now overcome that to become critical thinking individuals who can respectfully challenge the forces in our lives?

My class mates speak out of how they utilize in their lives the skills learned in this classroom. Yet when we are placed in this environment, it is as if our brains are placed in a vacuum and nothing said applies to us or what we are currently doing.

How do my odd interactions with an overqualified professor intertwine with negotiation? Many argue that everything is a negotiation http://jobfunctions.bnet.com/abstract.aspx?docid=153954  and that the key is not understanding what is negotiable, but rather what negotiation style fits your personality and skill set.

The classroom is a factitious expression of the educational system, and is an inhibitor of true education. We are restricted to the depth of cultivation the instructor perceives will push us to the point of learning without compromising positive reviews on the FCQ's.

How do we transform into better negotiators? Trying to gain the larger promotion or the cheaper vehicle... With an unlimited supply of negotiation tactics how do determine the right one to learn? The one that seems to be effective, or the most reasonable or perhaps the one that resonates in a corner of our soul? Everyone has a PowerPoint or ten point program on how to best accomplish your negotiation successfully. In my opinion these are all bogus, strategists and arbitrators stumble upon a winning strategy, name it and think it will work in your life somehow.

How do we contrive a workable process that can help us solve our everyday issues? Is there one solution for all of your problems? Is Effective Questioning (http://www.coachingforchange.com/pub10.html) the antidote for our inefficacy's?