Appreciative Inquiry + DEI
Speech at AI JAM 2020
Applying grounded theory to individual development and organizational practices in an appreciative mode, Appreciative Inquiry explores new possibilites with the richness and uniqueness of every individual and organization. I “jammed” with the community to explore DEI topics and gave a “timely appreciative dialogue” that I wanted to share with you here.
What do you think of “diversity”? Which gender a person belongs to, how old they are, and race or ethnic group they are from? When you see a girl with an Asian accent, would you assume they are collectivistic and agreeable?
The surface-level characteristics are very important because they give you a general idea of a person at first sight. They can also invoke individual biases and stereotypes. Many times judgements based on surface-level characteristics are wrong because of the complexity within an individual.
There is another paradigm on the table that involves the investigation of deep-level characteristics, things that are not so readily apparent. What do you think of when it comes to a deeper level of diversity? Personalities, values, attitudes, preferences, motivations, beliefs, right? These are the characteristics that we (as least for me) want to be most appreciated for by our closest friends.
David Harrison from the Pennsylvania State University and his colleagues studied teams and task performance and concluded that as time passes, surface-level diversity does not matter as much as the deep-level diversity.
As time passes, people with different characteristics from different backgrounds work together, and those things just unfold. As we interact with each other, identities are expressed through interaction, verbally and nonverbally.
To distinguish between levels of diversity matters because of its general theories: people with the same deep-level characteristics get along well with each other easily. Their identities, beliefs, affect, and behavior patterns, get verified and reinforced.
But what about people with different deep-level characteristics?
Researchers, Malcolm Higgs from UK and their colleagues found that diversity contributes to team performance when the task is complex. You know, now we live in a VUCA era when everything is constantly changing and things are just getting more and more complex. When it comes to complexity, it involves processes, sub-task interactions, outcomes, etc. Deep-level diverse composition can contribute more to performance when we are dealing with such complex tasks. That’s where resilience comes from in this era.
But it may take some conscious effort for us to learn to appreciate differences in people. I’m from Asia and I love where I’m from as well as the culture that I grew up in, which helped me appreciate other cultures. But it did not come that naturally.
When I was in undergraduate, I took a course on cross-cultural communication. I remember in the first class, we learned that every culture is self-centered. “I was self-centered.” It hit me because I was very proud of my culture, and it made me realize there are so many other cultures that are just as rich as mine. It’s very humbling and eye-opening. But I know many out there are still self-centered like me from years ago.
When we talk about appreciative inquiry, it is about the conscious effort to embrace the reality, even when it does not necessarily make us comfortable. It involves exploring into the unknown and the differences in other people that we may not have previously considered.
Have you heard about the theory of group thinking? People tend to strive for an identity that is different from others. The cohesiveness of the group may bias the group judgment and make them resistant to affirmative change.
Sometimes seeing others’ differences may trigger something in ourselves that is repressed or oppressed. For example, in my hometown, traditionally individualism is not valued very much because people appreciate tradition and group identity, while individualism can be appreciated in other places, and you can also see just how individuals flourish in these environments.
When we repress or oppress something, it becomes our shadow that takes conscious effort to integrate. That’s the challenge that we have when we want to embrace diversity. We need to value different and even seemingly contradictory things: affirming our own identities and appreciating differences in others’ identities.
Now I hope you have an idea of where the resistance to diversity comes from — and hence realize the importance of inquiring into the complexity of individuals and groups — as well as how to create resilience by embracing diversity, a.k.a. how by inquiring into the unknown within ourselves and within others to achieve true diversity and to flourish with that kind of strength that we couldn’t get from anywhere else.
👆That was my speech in the AI JAM 2020 (40'–48'). Appreciative inquiry provides a psychologically safe environment for people to discuss differences, changes, and potentials. It was a pleasure to share my learning at Hofstra — deep level diversity and team performance.
References:
Harrison, D. A., Price, K. H., Gavin, J. H., & Florey, A. T. (2002). Time, teams, and task performance: Changing effects of surface-and deep-level diversity on group functioning. Academy of management journal, 45(5), 1029–1045.
Higgs, M., Plewnia, U., & Ploch, J. (2005). Influence of team composition and task complexity on team performance. Team Performance Management: An International Journal, 11(7/8), 227–250.
Sidenote:
Taking a Qualitative course this semester, I am reflecting on the grounded theory I first came across in the AI literature.
Contrast my content analysis with the graph drawn by the AI JAM artists. See the beauty of combining technology and humanity, science and art?
Peace,
