Diversity & Inclusion – 3

On the occasion of Janmashtami – day of Krishna's birth, we visited the temple. A large number of devotees had gathered together to offer their gratitude to the God for everything he gave us. I could see men and women of all kinds. The thought provoked me to write this post. In my previous post, I started thinking about efficiency in a diversified environment. Many communities have adopted ways to boost their efficiencies and put their differences aside.

Considering the thought of improving efficiency in a diversified environment, requires choosing the most applicable path. Talk to any statistician or a process expert and they would tell you innumerable ways to calculate the best fit line amongst the so many observation points (read individuals). Economists and even human resource organizations are the biggest proponents of finding the bell curves for the best fitting policies. Each of these measures improve efficiency in operations, actions and policies for future.

Unfortunately, I am interested in what the statisticians call "outliers" and also the region that is left out of the bell curve sections. Are they included in the decisions taken for improving the efficiency? Short answer is NO. Hence efficiency works on the principle of exclusion and not inclusion. This is where I am amazed at organizations and their policies. On one side they train us in "Diversity and Inclusion" and on the other hand expect us to be more efficient?

Talking of the outliers, one must carefully watch out for the gaps or the amplitude by which they differ from the "in" position. This gap results in feeling of being left out, distrust and eventually separation from the "in" stream. Feeling of being left out is a very sensitive issue for any one. We can see so many problems erupting everywhere demanding separation from the mainstream. To handle such a movement, one must introspect and understand the real cause. I wonder how many of us have seen these separatist movements in this light.

The Indian scriptures and sages realized this very problem long ago. They understood that efficiency and growth comes at the cost of exclusion and there is not a way that the boundaries can be drawn to include everyone. This is the reason they created 33 million gods for every community resembling them and their thoughts. With a god to represent them, each community has someone to look upon and a motive to move forward.

A poet once expressed similar thought in the Ram and Krishna forms of Vishnu. Rama was "Maryada Purushottam" – man of principles and "Ekampatnivrata" – a man with a single wife. Though much of Brahma's creation wanted nearness with Rama and gain eternity through his company. But Rama's principles created exclusivity and no one could get near. Hearing their cry, Vishnu promised that he would grant their wishes in his next form of Krishna. Krishna was thus "Leela Purushottam" – man of action and he performed "Maha Raas" to include every woman in Brij. Krishna taught the mode of devotion to achieve the God – "Bhakti". Bhakti is the path of inclusion and not exclusion.

Though growth is fuelled through efficiency, it comes at a cost of exclusion. If not managed well, the excluded groups slowly fade away from the mainstream causing separatist movements. Remember, inclusion may give a tardy growth line, but will help you grow with all.

Diversity & Inclusion - 2

Thinking more about the diversity and the inclusion, I started to visualize the concept everywhere.

I was asked to take up a diversity and inclusion training at my workplace the other day. To make the matters worse, they had actually tied it to my job compliance. What they told me in the training was that we work in a multinational organization and we need to be aware of different cultures and their considerations. The training was mandated by the human resource group and requested us not to form judgments by just one or two incidents. It asked us to be cognizant of the difference in cultures and develop patience. In a subtle tone, it asked us to be able to develop the sensitivity towards others - their needs, their fears and their backgrounds.

Having said that, I wondered what is the organizational culture then? Why the same HR dept. does strives to instill a common set of values? Why are we all the time chased through the hallways for not following te corporate templates? Why should the deliverables from different teams in one organization look the same? What happens to diversity, sensitivity and the inclusion?

I found the answer while explaining the currency to my kids! I showed them the various currency notes in my possession –

Currency Name	Currency Note
Indian Rupee
Euro
US Dollar

 
You shall notice that Indian rupee has the payer' promise in 17 local languages displaying the variety in language and culture. At the same time, the Euro spans across multiple countries, yet displays the content in very limited languages. United States of America – which is also termed as the land of immigrants or the melting pot of the world, has attracted residents from all over the world. You'll see almost every language and culture in different pockets of US, yet the currency displays only one – English. Was US being insensitive to the various cultures living and prospering here? No. The answer comes from the efficiency of operations. The cost of producing the single language currency notes is far lesser than the same with multiple languages.

See the same thing in your organization, home or even with your friends. I was born and brought up in a hindi speaking place. Though, I had to move to a place for work where people only spoke Tamil. Later, I moved to another place where all work was done in Kannada. To top it all, all people I interacted with came from various backgrounds – with different values, languages and food. I found knowledge of English very efficient and helpful in establishing the common ground wherein we could connect and draw up the plans for future.

While not forgetting the wonders of mother tongue and its importance, at least there is one thing we must be thankful to British for – English. On the occasion of our 68^th independence day, call me a traitor, but I still root for the one thing that binds us together and unites us amongst all the diversity we have.

Diversity & Inclusion

My wife has already started on her project for the 68^th Indian Independence Day program in our town as well as the county. She is doing an amazing job convening the program with so many different volunteers and great helpers. Out of curiosity, I asked her the theme and her answer was "Of course, it's Diversity!" I started thinking the real meaning of the word diversity and its implications. Trust me it has been a very interesting journey through the thoughts.
Diversity means the state of being diverse or having variety to be precise. Variety can be in multiple forms – dresses, food, mannerisms, opinions and thoughts.
In the various interactions with people, systems and processes we all come across so many diversified characters on a daily basis. Yet we harp on the need to understand the diversity and understand it. This is what drive my curios and inquisitive mind to ponder. I believe diversity is a fact of life and nature. The Mother Nature supports so many living organisms – be it flora or fauna, so many non-living things, doesn't it offers diversity to us? I believe this is diversity in its fullest form. To help ourselves understand the various complex natural phenomenon, we tried to classify them in families and kingdoms. Interesting still, while we tried to study one phylum, we were still observing others and their effects. We applied the same classification (though modified) while understanding humans, their cultures and their societies. Then why did we forget the behavior and the impact of others as in plant or animal kingdoms?
Yes, diversity is not new. It has always existed and will always exist. We are just one very small miniscule creatures in the diversified nature. But what makes us superior to others is our ability to think and understand the differences. The same understanding and knowledge leads us to appreciate the capabilities of others and help us being sensitive towards others and their needs. The sensitivity leads to us being able to adjust and develop a cordial society for all to live together.
Of late many organizations have started training their staff on Diversity and Inclusion. The program is aimed at not only understanding that there may be people with diverse backgrounds but also with methods to include them all when working as a team and devising approaches to minimize the differences.
Some argue that this knowledge and the understanding came from the west. I recommend to visit the SriNathJi temple in Nathdwara, Rajasthan, India. SriNath Ji appears before the devotees 8 times a day for darshan. In each appearance he sports a new and a different outfit. All the year round, the dresses and Shriji's getup is never repeated. Quite a fashionable god? Yes he is. However, the point to note here is some of the various forms that ShriJi takes during the year include that of a 'Yavan', 'Mugal' and even 'maleccha' – forms that are not associated with Hinduism or are not viewed favorably. But look closely – the god himself is givin out the message of inclusion, sensitivity to others through the clothes he sports. When he can do so, how can we be so insolent?
Let's introduce another interesting twist to this whole paradigm – like the holy trinity of Hindu Gods – Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh; there is a holy trinity of Lakshmi, Durga and Saraswati – the female counterparts of Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma. The three goddesses symbolize different types of wealth we can have - Lakshmi indicates the material wealth, Durga indicates the emotional wealth, and Saraswati indicated the wealth of knowledge. In our quest for materials, we are always trying to achieve our emotional quests, but somehow we forget the knowledge that gives us sensitivity towards self and others.
Hence, to really understand Diversity and Inclusion, one must try achieve knowledge of one's own culture and that of others'.