The Multicultural Leader

Diversity is inefficient

interesting perspective here...

written from an American perspective but raising some key thoughts.

"At least, it is inefficient in the short run. In the long run, to repeat myself, we are not going to win anything anymore if we can’t build racially inclusive coalitions and organizations. That said, here are just a couple ways that diversity takes time and energy:

1. The people who are already in our network tend to have a lot in common with us. Diversity requires us to go further out of our own networks to find new partners for our work or new hires for our organization and that takes time. It definitely takes more time than hiring and working with people we already know.
2. Once we have identified a diverse set of folks to work with, it takes more time and energy to work with them than it does to work with people who are more like us. We are likely to have different communication styles, knowledge bases and points of reference. These points of difference are actually an incredible strength, but in day to day practice they dramatically multiply the potential for miscommunication and misunderstandings. Truth.

And then there is this – it turns out that diversity is not just inefficient, it is insufficient. Getting a diverse set of bodies into a room is not enough. We also have to find a way to hear out all the voices we’ve put in our pretty room and make them count for something. Inclusion = diversity + engagement. That is a time consuming equation.

The thing is, we shouldn’t bother with diversity unless we plan to make the time to be inclusive. Because diversity without inclusion backfires. Almost always. Over and over again I’ve seen people with the best intentions of building racial bridges horrified to see chasms of racial mistrust forming instead. This is usually because they expected diversity alone to get the work done.

Building bridges takes time and focused effort. We have to be ready and willing to give everyone’s voice equal weight, and share power across new alliances. Chasms, unfortunately, seem to form naturally."

Beyond the Welcome -2

Had a chance to attend the Toronto version of the World Vision event,  mentioned in a previous post. Disappointment would have to be the word... I was expecting to go into the actual research data and findings. I kind of think that's what most people in the room were there for too -- some frustration was expressed. [I had brought a group of about 12 leaders from our national movement, specifically hoping to get into the content of the research]

Instead we had a nice introduction to the fact that churches need to engage more with new immigrants... I guess I was thinking that most of the people who would show up for an event like this would, in fact, be people who are already engaged and want more depth of content and reflection to help us with our ongoing work.

I always seem to get suckered into these kinds of things, offered/advertized as an all-encompassing national strategy, by some national org... then I'm always reminded of my basic modus operandi -- small is better, work with those want to be worked with, 'comprehensive' means nobody really deals with on-the-ground stuff; don't be a joiner; do your own thing, in your own place, in your own sphere of influence... see where it leads.

Thankfully the full research document, findings and suggestions (51 pages) are included on the CD takeaway from the event.  Here is the table of contents from the research report.

1. Introduction

1.1 Study Partners
1.2 Study Purpose and Main Research Questions
1.3 Research Approach
1.4 Study Scope and Sites
1.5 Research Methods and Analysis
1.6 How the Report is Organized
2. Why This Research Study
3. How Recent Immigrants Experience Church
3.1 Church Experience Depends on the Context
3.2 Church Experience and a Limited Sense of Belonging
4. How Churches are Responding to Recent Immigrants
4.1 A Positive Trend: A Growing Response
4.2 A Trend Lacking Depth: Limitations in the Response
4.3 What is Hindering the Response of Canadian Churches?
5. Suggestions for Improving How churches Respond
5.1 Promote a Vision for Change
5.2 Create Structures That Support Change
5.3 Develop Processes that Encourage Change
Appendices ....

UReach Toronto is online

UReach Toronto is a unique portal of information -- a resource centre for multicultural ministry in the GTA; with research about communities across the region, interactive maps, news about events and training opportunities. A good place to ask questions or get answers.