Diversity Is About Thinking Differently Not About Looking Differently

Take a close look at the title photo. Diverse right? I don't think so. For starters, they are all looking in the same direction crowded together like sheeple they all look pretty much the same except for "skin" color. And yet this is how so many of us have been indoctrinated by the Academia Nuts "different for different's sake".

No one should be made to feel ashamed that he or she is gay. No one should be ashamed of their race, or religion, or heritage. No one should be excluded from job opportunities using any of these things as a criterion. This is what diversity is all about, right? Wrong.

The opposite of diversity is homogeny. To judge a person’s character using these criteria is bigotry and the opposite of bigotry is tolerance. You don’t have to like people who are different from yourself, but you cannot let your personal feelings cause you to behave in an aggressive, bullying, or hostile manner, and you cannot prevent them from opportunities simply because they are different. Most, if not all, people know this is wrong but some will still do it unless someone steps up and tells them to knock it off, and that takes courage which is in short supply. It isn't easy to think differently, talk differently, or just plain be different from the crowd. If you speak up against diversity simply for its own sake you risk being vilified and maybe even fired.

Diversity isn’t about the color of a person’s skin, whom they choose to date, or one’s gender, it’s about the diversity of thought and values and moral fiber because these are the things that make not only the smart thing to do but also smart business.

A friend of mine used to work for Alexander Trottman when he was leading Ford.? My friend said to me, “everyone thinks that Alex surrounds himself with yes men, but they’re wrong; when Alex says no, we all say no too.” My friend was obviously joking, but like in all good jokes, there was a kernel of truth. In too many cases disagreeing with the boss is a career death sentence, and yet sometimes, hell OFTEN, bosses are wrong and if they don’t have people who will tell them that the emperor is naked the boss will lead the company to ruin. The fact that Trottman didn’t surround himself with yes men is what makes the joke funny.

I read recently that diversity is important because “people like to see someone like themselves leading the organization.” I disagree in the strongest possible terms—I have worked for women for most of my career and never once did I give it a thought that the leaders of the key departments for which I worked should be more like me. All I needed from my leaders was for them to listen to my ideas, concerns, criticisms, etc. with an open mind. After they heard me out and considered what I had to say, I was more than willing to accept their decisions.

Years ago I worked for the late Heinz Prechtor, a living Horatio Algiers story. He came to the U.S. from Germany to California with $360 to attend college and instead built an empire.? He entertained captains of industry and Presidents from both parties often stayed in his guest house.? Heinz was a truly remarkable man when it came to diversity. He had women in positions of power, Europeans (not people of European descent), Asians, Hispanics, people from rural backgrounds, and people from suburban backgrounds. When asked why he was so devoted to hiring so many different people—diversity comes at a cost, since people with different opinions so often don’t get along. He responded by asking, “who buys our products? People from all over the world. People of all races, ethnicities, genders, and religions. We NEED to have people who represent our customers at the table if we are going to be successful.” I’m paraphrasing him, but there wasn’t a Director or Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion—we didn’t need one, it was hardwired into our culture.

Another key difference between diversity and tolerance is the understanding that no one speaks for their race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or their gender. Diversity has to be more than a mosaic of skin colors, hairstyles, and other cultural traits, it has to be about people who think differently from each other. I know of many organizations that extoll the benefits of diversity and plaster the walls with platitudes about how much they value it. To them, I say “shut up and show me”.

The organization for which I worked that talked the most about diversity—to the point of bragging—wasn’t diverse at all. It was 90% female, overwhelmingly white, and discouraged dissenting. It was a very homogenous organization and the fact that they praised themselves so highly for their diversity was laughable.? The cliché “out-of-the-box” thinking was absurd. As long as people got along and nobody got hurt feelings and we could reach a consensus the organization congratulated itself on its diversity and inclusion. I loved working there, they truly did create a secure and tranquil environment, but not much got done…at least not in a timely manner. And if you think it was harmonious think again, I have never worked at a place where I saw so many people break down sobbing in their work areas. Is that the goal of diversity? It shouldn’t be.

There is so much more to the value of diversity than making sure you’ve made the perfect ethnic mosaic. You have to have a culture where it's safe to voice your opinion, a place where diversity is valued because it brings many perspectives, and to achieve that we have to look beyond race, or sexual orientation, or religion and we need to hire, not to fill some diversity BINGO card, but to create a team of different perspectives who don’t measure diversity through tokenism.