G-Rock wrote:I don't think it has anything to do with "diversity management" That seems to me as a step backwards. I think it has more to do with the fact that we live in an open democratic society that treats all races/cultures equally. That being said, all races are not equal in their traits/qualities. Every race/culture is different and that should be celebrated and not "managed"
As for generalizations, we should be able to make generalizations about other cultures. By how you are perceived by the rest of the world can help a culture define or redefine itself.
....Other than that, i agree with Hondanisti
LOL
yes well I doubt an F1 Technical forum is the appropriate place to discuss diversity or it's management or whether it's regressive in detail.
Whether you actually agree with me or not isn't the point, since high performance decision makers are using these diversity concepts today in successful projects or companies in North America today. They have considered your idea that enhancing diversity could be regressive and against the victories gained in the sixties. They've validated that it has not been regressive because in reality, the "outgroup" (minority) are actually getting the respect and positions that were never offered even in the race-blind approach. There isn't a notion of tokenism (Access & Legitimacy paradigm of diversity) . We've moved on from that as a starting point and oh yeah, they win - their bottomline is better because of diversity.
And yes, a democracy is fundamental to that evolution of the original idea of eliminating hate and ignorance.
Your comment that I quoted above is actually one of the 3 paradigms of diversity that I had mentioned categorized by Ely & Thomas. : the gender or race blind policy called the "Discrimination & Fairness" paradigm.
Unfortunately, it's the oldest and most obsolete one that historically thus far has lead to entrenched unsolvable policies and paradoxically enhances never ending racism that still exists, despite its good intention . The problems of diversity persist long after the civil rights changes of the sixties in the noble attempt of being race-blind.
To ignorantly lump "Arabs" into 1 category without knowing or identifying differences within that group and then generalizing (stereotyping) but then, falling back on the "there is (in theory or intention ) no difference in how we treat all cultures & we're all the same (when in reality there are differences still) " rhetoric actually enhances the entrenched position that one's own cultural standards are the default standards and ironically prevents one to reach out of one's own culture to understand anything about a different culture and their nuances. If you don't understand, you cannot solve the problem or you end up sweeping the problem under the rug by proclaiming equality in theory without actually solving it.
There have been several business cases already presented showing the advantage of diversity in providing a larger repertoire of solutions compared to a homogeneous team or group. The persistent problem in diversity is when does it no longer become an advantage ? There's a time and place for when we seek diversity and there's a place & time to seek convergence or unity. The context of the project is everything. To get to consensus agreement (all hands on deck, rally the troops), you must first acknowledge the differences and genuinely incorporate their contribution to the overall solution to get that "buy in". If you don't first understand the differences or acknowledge the differences with equal participation , your credibility amongst the diverse groups is tenuous.
As was said, before, did the person posting this thread topic even consider the notion that just because a person comes from a certain country, it doesn't necessarily mean that they belong to the most common "race" there. And even if they did, does this person realize the differences within that race just as there are subtleties and differences within the "Caucasian" race ? Not all "Arabs" think the same way - a radical notion for the original poster perhaps ?
