Diversity
Comparing people, situations, and things to those we have seen before is something we are hard-wired to do. We talk about similarities between the archetypal shapes and their characteristics. Every Asian, European or American feels alike if they are not our kinfolk, right?
And if we meet a complete stranger on the opposite side of the globe but they have the same nationality, there can be an instant connection to talk to each other. Where we would have probably never spoken a word on the bus back at home.
It is very likely that over generations of inherited behavior we have become experts in comparing, competing and completing assumptions we have to organize the things we see and align them with our previous experiences.
It is what we have, to make a decision towards whom we vote for, whom we partner with or what products we buy.
Though, this way of linear thinking has made it increasingly difficult for us to act and make decisions.
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With this essay, I would like to reflect on Diversity and share my thoughts and experiences while working in the United States, India, China, Europe, with Russian and African colleagues for a variety of companies that have their roots in one of those countries.
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What is identity to diversity?
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Ever since Diversity has made a name for itself in the worlds of social life, business and education it has created incredible things. From law and software ethics that include all people to brands embedded in modern history like IKEA that has created a global identity, a global culture.
On the other side, Diversity confronts us with behaviors we cannot predict, people and situations we cannot compare.
Because its complicated? Or because, when you think about it, diversity is the opposite of identity?
Something that we are having more and more of a hard time defining it for ourselves.
And when, as an early twenty-something, you as village folk from a small German town that is proud to call two traffic lights, a bus stop and post office box their own, suddenly realize you are working with the largest telecom in the world on the 100th floor of the world trade center in Shanghai, Diversity comes at you in many facets.
Saying hello
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Because I struggled quite a bit to use my little knowledge and experience to understand and act in this environment, I slowly started to experiment and design my own behavior heuristics to deal with this global and faceted world around me.
So, I looked at the products that surrounded me. I always had a good relationship with them. Like many others, I played with a Gameboy when I was a kid. I watched TV, listened to 80’s and 90’s pop music on the radio and the internet has had a huge, positive impact on my journey.
Only because of having profiles on social networks, my own website and being one of the first members of the now Adobe owned platform Behance, I got the chance to stand and work here in China.
One year before I was born, Apple introduced their first Mac. It said “hello” on its screen. This amazing promise behind Apple’s own understanding of its brand to place a human opposite to Orwell’s dystopia, to be different , has had probably more impact on us than we realize yet. If not that 35-year-old machine, then the products and influence of the brand that came after it.
I got inspired by this gesture. I liked the idea of this human opposite, being open and approachable by strangers. To welcome them, to say hello.
So i started thinking.
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Right after I had this thought I tried experimenting with it. In my work but also with the people I was with. For example, while I was in China I often could not speak to the people around me. They did not speak English nor did I speak Chinese. Even hand signs would mean different things!
A Field Trip. The diversity of mangos
So having heard that there is a good market close to the office that sells mangos (if you do not know me personally, I love mangos to the bones. They are, obviously, the natural superior to gummy bears, in texture and flavor, which have been my previous, dangerous first choice of indulgences).
So I went out to find Alfonso mangos, the ones I was used to. No sight of them. But when I tried to explain with drawings and the Chinese words I learned the other day at the office, someone at the market recommended Thai mangoes to me. Coincidentally those mangoes are similarly named to my sister. So I could connect with this diversity in my own new ways. And by being open and saying hello I was able to create a space for connection.
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Adapting identity & diversity
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This small field note on mangos might sound trivial to you. But if you look at it in the context of your environment at home, with your friends, work or your connections, in general, it is another story.
Thinking back, the linear thought process of comparing our previous experience to the current situation in which we want to act, this adaptation of my thought experiment might help you to approach the situation creatively.
It does not have to be a recreation or be compared directly to something that has happened in the past, in a different environment or with your previous state of mind. Maybe try taking it as a process to be open to the other, to say hello, listen and create a sense of common ownership together to think and design towards a next step that works for both of you.
Yes, it will be more work. It will probably take longer than making the decision yourself based on your bias. But it is very interesting work and it will put you in a position to act positively in a global culture. No matter if you work in politics or if you want to make friendships with strangers.
The more we know and discover about this amazingly diverse world, the more we will understand diversity is a process. And that diversity is not the enemy of identity. In a global environment where the linear decision process fails you to move on, diversity is the creative process in which you and your new colleagues, friends, and partners from different continents are able to design and envision a new, common ground that is full of color and new dimensions of identity.
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That´s it for today! Thank you for sticking with me to the very end. If you enjoyed this excursion today I will be doing three more Field Notes in the coming weeks. Beside Diversity, we will reflect on Wealth, Time and Rhythm.
Take care and until next time!
