To embrace diversity, prepare for conflict

Relax; this isn’t about culture wars or identity politics

Diversity and inclusion are all over the headlines, again. What started as an initiative to bring different voices to the table has somehow morphed into a lightning rod for culture wars, name-calling, and polarisation.

What happened? How did something as innocuous as: “Let’s create space at the table for different perspectives” become such a contentious issue?

A little about me

I’d like to run through a thought experiment in real-time. Just take a moment to read each prompt, pause, and reflect on what comes to mind, in terms of what you might expect to hear from me:

• What if I told you I’m BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour)?

• What if I told you I’m Asian?

• What if I told you I’m Chinese?

• What if I told you I’m Chinese-Australian?

These descriptors fall into the realm of group identities, which come with associations of culture, stories, and shared lived experiences.

Technically, I’m Chinese and 1/16th Dutch. I was born in China but arrived in Australia when I was 6, with a slightly British accent (I attribute this to my primary school teacher, whom I learned all my English from). I can speak Mandarin fluently enough though I am quite illiterate.

But none of that really tells you anything of who I am. I’m also male, heterosexual, single, never married, don’t have children, I have a younger sister, and I’m a diehard cat person. I’ve started my own businesses, led not-for-profit organisations, and worked with large corporates and governments alike.

But that still doesn’t tell you anything about me. Am I warm? Funny? Pessimistic? Empathetic? Outspoken? Conservative? What am I like under pressure? What’s my appetite for risk? How do I handle conflict? What are my political leanings?

My point is that none of these characteristics can be gleaned from the group identities above, yet they represent the fundamental experience of what it’s like to interact with me, the individual identity of Scott.

What’s the point of diversity and inclusion?

I appreciate there are many different perspectives on the purpose of diversity and inclusion, whether that’s equality of opportunity, equity of outcome, through to addressing systemic barriers. However, it sometimes feels like all these goals have muddied the waters on what I believe is the fundamental purpose (and I want to underscore that this is my take): To create space for different perspectives and voices.

In any homogenous group, whether a Board comprised of ‘old, white men’ or a startup of ‘young Gen Z hustlers’, having people with diverse backgrounds at the table will invariably bring diverse perspectives that help us see challenges in different ways.

And I don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Group identities are important; they can help people create a sense of community and belonging. From a research perspective, at some point we need to use demographic categories to draw larger trends and patterns. And as an external observer, seeing a diverse mix of people visibly represented at the top of an organisational chart also sends signals that I can expect different lived experiences will likely be represented.

Yet that cannot be where it stops.

Years ago, I was in a forum on cultural diversity and inclusion. An important point of context: I was the only non-caucasian person in the group. As we went around the room, the talking points centred mostly around big-ticket issues of racism, colonialism, and discrimination.

When asked about my experiences growing up in Australia, I shared that whilst I have experienced racism, it didn’t really bother me. Sure, I’ve called out overt acts when appropriate, but it just didn’t raise my hackles because, for the most part, I could differentiate between malicious intent and well-intentioned ignorance. I could almost feel the temperature drop in the room. I felt like I said ‘The Wrong Thing’.

I didn’t talk about feelings of exclusion or systemic oppression. However, I felt like as a person with a culturally diverse background, I was expected to echo the same talking points. But… what’s the point of having diverse people in the room if there isn’t space for the diversity of thought that it will bring?

Moving beyond a focus on group identities

I think one of the challenges with discourse in this space is a lack of granularity. It sometimes feels like we’re only ever playing at the surface level of group identities, represented by quotas and what’s visible. That then leads to sweeping statements where men are this, women are that, Asian people are X, white people are Y.

But where I feel the real shame is that the focus on group identities seems to have eradicated our individual identities. It’s morphed into arguing about all the ways that we’re different, rather than what we have in common.

Zoom in past the group identity of any individual and we find multiple overlapping identities. I am Chinese-Australian and I’m a political centrist. I am capitalistic and I’m socially progressive. I’ve been an employee and I’ve been a manager. I’m masculine in some ways and I’m feminine in others.

Go far enough and I’m certain you and I will find a ‘group identity’ that we have in common. However, none of these are apparent if you only look at my appearance or any associated labels. And just because I may associate with a group identity does not mean there isn’t a complex individual identity lying within it.

Again, I’m not suggesting that there aren’t inherent challenges experienced by different groups within any established system, however focusing on all the ways that we’re disadvantaged should equally not erase all the respective strengths we bring.

Prepare for (constructive) conflict

Clickbait headline aside, my argument is that I believe the point of diversity is that it brings with it a slew of different ideas, perspectives, and thoughts. A natural byproduct of this will be a conflict of ideas and perspectives, which is good! This is how we get new ideas, innovation, and progress! This is how we overcome blind spots!

But in order for all of that individual diversity of thought to emerge, we need to create the space for the ‘conflict’ it will bring:

• We need to be respectful of the fact that there will be differences of opinions within the same group identities

• We need to be curious about the nuances of diverse individual experiences

• We need to lightly hold our own preconceived notions of group identities, so we can embrace the diversity of thought and personalities, of wisdom and experiences, of politics and opinions, and of strengths and weaknesses

And by doing all of this, we can start to find all the ways in which we’re common, rather than all the ways that divide us.

So that’s my take. What’s yours? What disagreements might you have with my take? Where do you agree? Whatever it is, let’s have a respectful and curious conversation about it!