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My Viewpoint on diversity

Deep Democracy and Deep Diversity
My Own Social Identity
My Interest In Diversity
The Business Case for Diversity
Cultural Competence
My Relationship to Social Justice and Affirmative Action
My Relationship To The Mainstream And Conservative Forces
My View of the Corporate World
My View On Globalization
People Who Hate Diversity

Preface

Diversity is a term that is mostly used to show the degree of political correctness with which the mainstream deals with inclusion and exclusion of marginalized groups. Deep Diversity, as it is applied in Worldwork, and as I apply it in my own practice, goes beyond that definition, as you can see from the many references, case studies, theory pages and exercises on this website.

“Diversity” itself is a concept that has become replete with different meanings, interpretations, and connotations. A diversity standpoint may include theoretical aspects, but these aspects themselves may be considered irrelevant or a “lip service” in comparison with the “standpoint” that is finally lived in day to day interactions within a person’s microcosm, family, team, and social network. So how, really, can you write that up? Should you write about theory? Don’t white males always teach when they talk about diversity, instead of listen and learn? I want to do both. My goal with this text is to stimulate your own thinking process and to create more transparency around diversity issues.

The concept of diversity depends on one’s own cultural framework. For example, the first paragraph of this page shows a USA based framing of diversity issues. From the viewpoint of many cultures, this framing is at best incomprehensible, and at worst, hated as the epitome of Western domination and arrogance. Please read more on other pages on this website about how e.g. US/Western human rights values and history ignore and/or misunderstand other cultures - such as the Confucian societies of Korea or China, in which social emancipation is not considered an extension of civil rights, but an enhanced sense of civil duties.

These following pages address my personal viewpoint on diversity. They also include my own political and spiritual standpoint, and aspects of my journey as a European American, middle class, middle aged, heterosexual, Christian raised, relatively able-bodied Swiss born man. I include this account not because I think it will be that interesting to anyone - except of course to me, because it is about my life! - but because it helps to create transparency. Personally, I hope to see this kind of account when I look at other websites as well. I prefer transparency to neutrality. In my view, the concept of the neutral facilitator needs to be replaced by the concept of the open and transparent facilitator. Our opinions are formed in part by our own socialization processes, personal histories, positions within the hierarchical social structure of our reality, etc, as well as by our own creative thinking processes, our inner sense of what is right, and our understanding of professional ethics. I vote for transparency over neutrality. It allows dialogue, and brings more credibility.

Deep Democracy and Deep Diversity

How does my own viewpoint fit into our diversity model? Deep Democracy, a constitutive concept in the Worldwork model, postulates that all of our experiences, both individual and collective, are connected and share a common ground, yet are uniquely different in the various forms that they take. This difference forms the basis of diversity. A key assumption of Worldwork is that the parallel existence of both unique difference and essential sameness is not only a characteristic for people, or biological life, but an ontological fact of the universe per se. Just as in Taoism, in which the formless Tao that cannot be said represents a non-local sameness that gives rise to Heaven and Earth and Ten Thousand Things that are diverse and unique in their forms, we define different levels on which we can experience the one indivisible reality and the polarized uniqueness of our world. It is the same principle, as Arnold Mindell points out, that allows quantum mechanics to suggest a basic connectedness as one key characteristic of the universe, and at the same time define energy as the appearance of discreet quantum packages, which suggests a basic uniqueness as another key characteristic. As we know from the quantum wave collapse - the collapse of the superposition at the moment that the observer interacts with an event - observation or awareness plays a role in this phenomena. Different levels of awareness create diversity.

The celebrating of diversity from this perspective validates different genders, ethnicities, ages, sexual orientations, etc. as unique and equally important. Cultural differences and varying degrees of distance from the mainstream bring different levels of awareness in terms of power distribution and the privileges that come with it. In addition, the Worldwork perspective validates different levels of experience, suggesting that nighttime dreams and daytime activities are distinctively different experiences of reality that should be valued equally. Similarly, imagination is as significant as measurable material facts.

The model even validates viewpoints that focus more or less exclusively on one aspect of what we call reality, and that refuse to see diversity as fact upon which life is built. In a diverse and self-balancing universe, people and groups that hold such viewpoints will be complimented by people and organizations that believe equally one-sidedly the opposite – such as the author of this text. Our job as Worldworkers is to facilitate the relationship between these mutually exclusive perspectives. Relationship doesn’t always mean dialogue, yet always appears in one form or other. Worldworker help groups to discover and unfold these relationships.

My Own Social Identity:

In my social identity, I am a European American, middle class, middle aged, heterosexual, Protestant raised, relatively able-bodied Swiss born man. Many privileges come with that genealogy. Like probably many of us, I am frequently more aware of the areas in which I experience a lack of privileges. For example, coming from a working class background, I often find myself internally jealous of those in my environment that come from middle or upper-middle class backgrounds. In these moments, I feel that they don't understand my ambition and competitive drive as being partially related to my class background. During my youth, my widowed mother struggled to bring in sufficient means to pay the monthly bills. This situation was amplified by the fact that in my hometown of some 10,000 inhabitants, only one other woman was working. Watching my mother struggle in the midst of these other families that seemed to have it much easier awakened my interest in Marxist theories and created fury and anger at the lacking sensitivity of those around us. These experiences from my personal history are deep seated. Still today, as a member of the white U.S. middle class, I often find myself justifying a fight for “my share” with the thought that the others that I am fighting against had it better. Or I get moody and feel used if something doesn't work out. On these days, the world owes me! And at the same time, I am even more infuriated if someone does relate to my working class background or cuts me slack, because I feel patronized and disrespected. On other days, however, I compensate for my guilt of having worked myself out of my root class by being more generous and supportive of others than I actually feel inside and would like to be. At the same time, I look down at everyone who comes from a wealthy background and seems unable to stand on their own two feet. I am aware that I know much more about the part of me that is related to a marginal position in my personal history than I do about how I oppress others as a male, or European born, or able-bodied, person. It is especially difficult when some of these characteristics overlap. For example, I was recently in a conflict with a female colleague over a financial issue. I suddenly noticed that her seemingly easy access to family wealth made me temporarily forget the unequal payment scales for women worldwide, to name just one of the many privileges that come with my male identity . In these moments, I must lack the same aspect of awareness that I see lacking in my opponents. I am ever grateful and indebted to my teachers that have demonstrated and shown me that this lack of awareness is actually not the biggest issue – but the lack of communication and exchange around these experiences. You learn to be in diverse groups by being in diverse groups. The process of learning is adventurous, unpredictable, at times painful, often ecstatic, never boring, and finally ultimately the most rewarding experience I could ever imagine.

The Taoist approach of Worldwork is aimed at acknowledging and embracing privilege and rank in order to become more aware of it and to use it more creatively. I owe a lot of my happiness to this concept. Once you try it out practically, just as the founder couple Arny and Amy predicted, you actually become more genuinely able to share and support others. I have learned and continue to learn to love my masculinity. I love white European culture. I love heterosexuality. I am proud of and love my Swiss European background and enjoy the love-hate relationship I have with my European roots. Well, let's say I do on a good day. On a bad day, I hate some or all of these aspects about myself. On my best days, however, I understand that these aspects are only a tiny part of who I really am. In many facets of my experience – my imagination and creativity, my spiritual life, my dreaming life - I am much more than any of these identifications and descriptions. In these moments, those constructs become close to meaningless. The personal experiences that I go through in my day to day life are very much related to the experiences of others around me. Together we create parallel worlds that we experience together, and that allow us a true experience of diversity.

( How hot this topic is debated shows the 1.5 Millions female employee suing Wal-mart in the largest employment discrimination class action of all times. )

My Interest In Diversity

For me, the most consistent and strongest motivation for all of my experiences involving diversity is a sense of enrichment, uniqueness, creativity, awe and fun that comes from getting to know intimately beings other than myself. In a recurring childhood dream, I am jumping out of a window in my stifling family apartment and to my great surprise, don't fall to death but notice that I am flying. I decide to use my ability to fly around and look into other family homes, to see how they truly live when they feel unobserved. No doubt, my path of becoming a therapist and finally an organizational consultant is related to this life myth. I treasure and love the experience of getting to know intimately how other people and groups live.
This life myth explains why my moral motivation is not strong enough to instill in me a fight for social justice over a consistent period. I have too much interest in what happens on the other side, for example the side of the oppressor. I feel myself to be more a spiritual activist, and more compelled by curiosity than social justice. Although my partner and I are at any given time involved in pro bono projects, I would be lying if I said that the main reason for that is social consciousness - we just love meeting people in different contexts and environments and feel enriched by these experiences.

The Business Case for Diversity

Obviously there is a general business case for diversity that is not debatable. If we prove that having more women in executive positions makes a group more competitive, we are affirming the obvious: more inclusion brings greater potential to any group. This process of diversification happens anyway, facilitation is barely needed. The new generation of black entrepreneurs in the U.S., also often referred to as the "new black power", occurred without facilitation and without the support of a majority group, and brought new business models and attitudes into entrepreneurship that were previously unknown. Joe Landry (publisher of the gay publications “The Advocate”, “Out”, “Out Traveler”, “HIV plus”, etc.) attributes the fact that more stodgy car brands such as Cadillac, Ford, etc. are joining Saab, Subaru and Saturn in advertising within the GLBT community to a cultural shift, rather than an effort in diversity training within these companies. From this viewpoint, many diversity trainings and inclusion efforts in organizations are 15 years behind what culture is already producing. At best, they can be considered rituals for stating that which has already been achieved. In my view, a maximum of two, two-hour long large group events on diversity topics for stakeholders per year would bring more awareness, create more inclusion, and give diversity events a bigger buzz than all the diversity and sensitivity training we put into our personal growth, including the popular diversity weeks touted by many groups.

Political correctness, in my view, is not only ineffective in the long run - it actually works as an invisible barrier between groups that stands in the way of an authentic meeting place. Although it provides an important first step for recognizing aspects of social justice, it later freezes prejudice on both sides. In the U.S.A., for example, European-American and African-American relationships have been and continue to be viewed from a predominantly historic viewpoint from both sides. Many characteristics of African American Culture are considered the result of slavery, by both black and white groups. There seems to be a politically correct agreement on both sides that the history of slavery can be seen as the single most decisive factor in explaining African American expression, politics, relationship life, professional development, etc. An analogous viewpoint would see an individual’s personal journey solely from the angle of an early childhood abuse experience. Such a viewpoint is good in the sense that it raises awareness about oppression and speeds up the process of liberation and emancipation, for example the civil rights struggle. However it is one-sided in the way that it takes power away from the “oppressed” group, stealing its intrinsic unexplainable beauty, talent and uniqueness by considering it the result of oppression, and therefore negating the existence of an essence that has remained intact throughout and regardless of history. I am thrilled to see that this mindset is finally changing. In a recent article in DiversityInc (one of the leading US publications on diversity within the business world that portrays, documents and supports the advancement of all marginalized groups regardless of political leanings or social activist viewpoints) the author Yoji Cole, one of my favorite writers on diversity in the mainstream, describes the achievements of the African American Culture and its influence within the mainstream. According to her research, African Americans are now setting many of the trends in consumer behavior. White kids worldwide pay attention to what black kids consider cool. However, though the article points out the privileges and power of African Americans, the author cannot abstain from seeing many of the skills and characteristics that the African American Culture developed as related to their history of slavery.

Non African American groups, also, as well as me personally, have a tendency to understand the "present day Black experience" in terms of the history of slavery. The act of identifying any group with the experience of abuse, whether from a social activist viewpoint or from a racist viewpoint, is a collusion that in the long run serves to keep that group oppressed. I know from my own experience in my relationships with people of color and people from an African American background, I consistently participate in co-creating the patronizing belief-system that “they” have to be seen with awareness of their oppressed past. Although this is a more subtle manifestation of the phenomenon described above, it is just another stereotype that keeps me separate from the person I am relating to. The attitude is obviously different though theoretically comparable with my insistence on using my own class background to explain my relationship to social mobility. Although true, the viewpoint inhibits me from finding freedom from my personal and social history, and from discovering the creativity that is truly mine.
So called “positive” stereotypes have a similar effect. If you are Jewish and smart, according to one stereotype, you are not smart per se, you are smart, because you are Jewish. In order to be proud of the fact that you are Jewish and to be proud of the fact that you are smart, you must first resolve that stereotype in your own head.

( Yoji Cole, Who Is An African American?, p. 54, DiversityInc, February 2005 )

Cultural Competence

Cultural competence is useful if the goal is to be more relaxed around one another, so that we can eventually meet the real people behind the social categories. In this respect, cultural competence is as important as table manners. It allows one person to sit with another and to have a conversation, which can be an important starting point in a relationship. Yet we all know that finally no deep and lasting relationship, or even great business connection, ever developed on the basis of both parties respecting table manners. Cultural competency courses are overvalued in their meaning in terms of helping a company to go global. Although they can serve as ice breakers, so can a real gaffe. If you have learned to pick up feedback, you can notice when your foot is in your mouth, and then use the moment to make a connection beyond what is “acceptable”.

On the other hand, in my view, nothing replaces authentic interest and genuine intent of meeting and getting to know another person, group or culture. I don’t think this attitude is something that you can develop or fake. You cannot learn it; it is a matter of temperament. I find true lived diversity one of the most challenging and definitively the single most rewarding experience in my life. One of the reasons for that is the fact that I meet the other both outside and inside of me. The extent of my ability to be encompass all of the internal and external experiences involved in this meeting, including those of love, hate, admiration, prejudice, dislike, etc, determines the level of closeness and intimacy that I can reach with the other, as well as with myself. This experience of closeness and intimacy does not necessarily imply harmony. A short course in learning how to work with your own experiences of discomfort and bias, and finding out these experiences can actually be useful to you in certain circumstances, would bring more.

Diversity is easy and obviously rewarding as long as you like the other person or group. It becomes deeply challenging, however, and therefore eventually, once you have worked through the obstacles, even more rewarding, when you find yourself disliking or even hating the other. My experiences of coming out on the other end of situations in which dislike and conflict were the beginning glue that kept us emotionally connected, and eventually the very things that produced understanding, love, and lasting friendship, are some of the most treasured peak experiences of my life. For me the most liberating situations, and also the most complex and difficult, are those in which I experience myself as the marginalized or oppressed person underneath another with more social rank, and am finally able to change the relationship into a meaningful friendship through my own initial inner work. I am very grateful for the privilege of having discovered a paradigm and teachers that allowed me to realize that the other, however different, is in a parallel world also “me”. This awareness enables me to work practically on how to use seemingly contradictive situations for my own growth. I am especially grateful to my partner Ellen, who helped me so much to develop an inner openness to the parts in me with whom I once had a hate relationship, and consequently helped me not only to be more open with others, but also to be more congruent with my boundaries. In my interactions with the world, I now find that I am less subject to my own preferences. I feel curious and excited to learn more about others, and therefore myself, regardless of whether or not I am drawn or repelled by them. Well, let's say that’s true in most cases, but not all.

My Relationship to Social Justice and Affirmative Action

Yes, it must happen! Consistently and unequivocally! But make no mistake; it doesn’t solve many of the underlying issues!! Although Affirmative Action often brings only a role switch without systemic change, I feel it must continue until the need for linking diversity with these terms has become obsolete. Affirmative Action is only a concept as long as Negating Action is the norm. Social Justice is only an issue as long as Social Injustice is understood as the lot of all humans. The fervor and inflexibility of the social activists is inseparable for me from the inertia of the mainstream in bringing social progress. I recently lead a course for over a hundred managers and consultants in South Africa, where I learned a great deal on the value and problems of affirmative actions. Although it is an important step in the development of South Africa, many black and white managers expressed their hope to see it eventually replaced by a simple performance management centered selection principle, thinking that this movement would ultimately be more supportive of a sense of self-worth and self-confidence in each individual.


My Relationship To The Mainstream And Conservative Forces

I am predominantly a member of the mainstream myself, and have a firm belief that the values of the mainstream deserve respect and understanding. Once a rebel fighting against the mainstream, I am now fighting against the lack of communication between the mainstream and marginal groups. Having worked for many years around the topic of female/male relationship issues, I see and hate the disparages between men and women, for example in the workplace. Yet at the same time I believe that the emancipation and support of men is equally important as that of women; the two must go hand in hand. We must emancipate and liberate ourselves together. If we want to achieve results that extend beyond the mere role switching that has occurred in the past, individual groups can no longer work on their own. I think that the support of men to become aware of who they are and to proudly identify with their potential is a crucial step in the fight for emancipation of women. I am very much interested in the public appearance of conservative religious forces. They are pointers for all of us, suggesting that we need to think more and communicate more about our fundamental and deepest beliefs about the lives we live. What is in your life that makes it worth living, and what is in your life that you are willing to die for? Answers to these questions will take the burden off some of these conservative groups, who carry that process for all of us.

My View of the Corporate World

The corporate world is the target of many social activists and is not very popular in many circles, even within the corporate world itself. These days, as many have come to know, no one likes “big”. The corporate world has much to learn and many areas in which to develop, undoubtedly. At the same time, I believe that its contribution to where we are today is not seen or valued enough. The predicaments of most business groups are often misunderstood by the larger public. In addition, the larger public does not reflect on its own role in forwarding corporate thinking, in my view. A large segment of the world considers financial and material reward to be the primary goal of work, both their own and that of others. This view supports greedy corporate thinking, regardless of the socio-economic status of the view holder. Unlike in Asia, for example, in the West we have primarily private shareholders. Many people, especially in the United States, invest in the stock market. Many of us don’t care about the corporate governance of companies that we invest in. As long as they make us money, we invest. The recent corporate scandals can be seen as mirroring this attitude. We expect them to behave different from the public?

In many countries, we subscribe to Maslow's pyramid, which suggests that physical, security and social needs take precedence over all others and must be cared for before any of the “higher” needs can be addressed. This is now the governing paradigm in many areas of the world, and the philosophical basis for most international corporations. Even in our attempts to understand international terrorism in the West, we often argue that it is due either to the fact that “these countries” have not enough access to material wealth, or we treat them like juvenile delinquents who have been marginalized and looking now for attention from the materially rich Western cultures. These viewpoints highlight a paradigm that places material thinking in the foreground. Going after corporations for the ways in which they conduct their business is like going after a problem child who is the identified patient in an alcoholic family system, in which the parents (in this case society at large, meaning all of us!) drink and neglect the family. Our addiction to the material reality and focus on material thinking is something to come to terms with as a society at large. The corporations cannot do that for us.

My View On Globalization

Globalization is happening. It is not something that can be stopped or accelerated; it is part of our evolution. I am optimistic, convinced that we will not lose the traits that make us diverse. We might temporarily forget them, but we will remember and reclaim them, and through this course create a new sense of being One on this planet. We can not stop or accelerate globalization, but we can facilitate the process. We can make it easier. Among the opponents of globalization, I meet as many racists as I meet among proponents. The viewpoint that a local culture is worth less and should be sacrificed to global development is as patronizing as the viewpoint (from a person living an economically privileged environment in a “developed nation”) that a local culture should be preserved at the cost of social and economic progress and the ability to connect with the global development at large.

People Who Hate Diversity

I am interested in and even respect people who hate diversity, feel prejudiced against other groups, and prefer to remain among their own “kind”. Many of these people have good reasons for their isolation. For example, some are reacting to a general lack of awareness about the depth of the traditions that brought us where we are today. In addition, the very concept of diversity would be defeated if there were nobody denying, negating, and fighting it. I myself often can not stand diversity, and need to take time with people that I am familiar with - maybe even just my partner - to enjoy an understanding and sense of unity that comes from being a small isolated unanimity.


If this was the first page you clicked on when you arrived at www.maxfacilitation.net , chances are that you are either a person of color, a member of the GLBTQE community (Gay/ Lesbian/ Bi-sexual/ Transgender/ Questioning and Exploring Community), or a member of another group that is marginalized relative to the mainstream, such as a person with different physical abilities, or a woman, etc. Or you are a social activist and awake about the political and social implications of diversity. In any of these cases, you would naturally on any homepage expect a link one click away from the homepage, stating the site owner's position in this debate. If you made it to here, I would appreciate it if you could send me a comment or feedback. I hope to learn from it and eventually update these pages with my new learning gained from your comments. Thank you so much.

© 2006. MaxFxx
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