I found a very recent study
in looking for the scientific basis of the “us/them” notion being innate, which
was part of my initial writing plan. So
I’m taking a risk in writing a little extra to address all three aspects of the
assignment (my experience, opinion on diversity-trust interactions, and
specifics from teamwork here in Colombia), …in the hope that you find the extra
minute of reading worthwhile!
Assignment
4.2 Trust and Diversity Discussion
Trusting
“different” doesn’t necessarily come naturally; but we know it when we feel it,
which is part of the reason we study how to build it. We often use the term “build”, which reminds us
that trust is the result of a process.
It is fascinating to think about that process, and all of the decisions
we make while it’s happening-all the unspoken questions we need to answer. Are
you dependable? Will you do what you say
you will do? Will you count on me? Will you support me with others? Will you
believe that I’ll support you with others?
That’s just between two people…Bring in the team, and multiply it by the
number of people, and multiply that by the possible interactions between
them—and it begins to become understandable that we need some manner of
filtering, some way to sort through it all.
When there are more superficial differences amongst teammates, i.e.
greater diversity, building trust is indeed, more complicated.
In this
sorting process, we can go two ways: the stereotype (which is natural), or the
more self-aware, challenging, route in which we look for the connections where
we might not naturally see or feel them.
Stepping into poetry for a moment, the path of the stereotype is the one
most travelled, as Robert Frost wrote in 1916 “as for that the passing there/
Had worn them really about the same”. If
in our teaming, we take this path, we will not discover The Wisdom of Teams (Katzenbach and Smith, 1996). Challenging ourselves to take the “one less
traveled by” (Frost, 1916) means challenging the stereotypes that Sujansky
(2004) warns can so easily derail our efforts at building diverse teams. Challenging our stereotypes, and the biases
they create really will make “all the difference” (Frost, 1916).
When it
comes to teamwork, dealing with stereotypes is important work in laying the
foundation for building the trust essential to teaming (Lencioni, 2005)--
especially on a diverse team. Teamwork
is most powerful when we value diversity as being a way to find new
perspectives, spur creativity, and providing satisfying, equal opportunities
(Baker, 2005). Once we value diversity,
we can appreciate difference as an asset (Baker, 2005) and then, almost
ironically, if we come from an understanding and appreciation of difference, we
are more free to find the similarities that can bring us together as a trusting
team. The starting place is challenging
stereotypes…
In
challenging our stereotypes, it is important to realize how simply and
naturally they form; partly from our need to filter, and partly, as a function
of growing up-we seem hard-wired to note not only similarity, but
difference. It is how we end up with all
kinds of sterotypes, whether ‘positive’ ones, such as ‘women can multitask so
well’, which sound like compliments; or ‘negative’ ones, such as ‘women are so emotional’. Trust needs to build between individuals, so
anything that gets in the way, such as stereotyping, or prejudging of any kind
(‘ohh….he’s from …accounting … hmm…well you know what that means’), means
building trust will either be more difficult, take longer, or be built on a
faulty basis, and therefore more fragile or superficial. Whether we are aware of our personal biases
or sterotypes—or unaware—it is useful to know more about where our natural
tendencies lie.
Being
human means we are naturally ‘us-them’ kinds of thinkers, in many cases,
unaware that we do so. Researchers have
studied babies, and published very recent work in which they discovered babies
prefer when puppets are nice to the puppet most similar, and that when given
the choice, they prefer those puppets who take crackers away from the puppet
who is dissimilar...
Hamlin emphasizes that even if these kinds of social biases are “basic,”
it doesn’t mean that more extreme outcomes, like xenophobia and intergroup
conflict, are inevitable.
“Rather, this research points to the
importance of socialization practices that recognize just how basic these
social biases might be and confront them head-on,” she concludes (Hamlin, Mahajan,
Lieberman, and Wynn, 2013).
If we lead our lives without challenging
these notions, thinking as a team or forming a team identity, as Katzenbach and
Smith (1996) note high-performing teams do--the membership issue alone would be
problematic. We would surround ourselves
with only those people who reminded us of-well, us! In doing so, in working at this basic level,
we would have weaker teams; unable to benefit from the fuller range of diversity
available in personality, education, creativity, ethic and gender backgrounds
(Baker, 2005). We must, in order to
team, be willing to take risks (Lencioni, 2005), and emotional ones at that. Trust is essential, because it allows us to
take those risks, without fearing that the team will dissolve.
Interestingly,
to come together as a team--to start building trust--we use the same discerning
skill the infants use in the study: noticing similarities and differences in
those around us; yet, we use it to fulfill a more mature, and more informed,
and ‘purposeful’ purpose. Similarities
and differences in teammates will be far more fundamental than appearances, accents,
or clothing choices—we will be looking at the “content of their character”
(King, 1963). We undergo a sequence to
arrive at ‘trusting’: necessarily and naturally notice differences (the basis
of diversity), then valuing it, as Baker writes in “Diversity That Matters”,
and only then, are we ready to look for those similarities and connections upon
which we can build the trusting relationships necessary to really perform on
teams.
When I joined the children’s foundation here
in Colombia, I felt ‘difference’ first hand and an initial absence of trust;
but rather than ignore it, I leaned on the idea that our greatest similarity is
our difference. In being aware of our
obvious differences, we were able to connect as people who cared about
children’s health, education, and futures.
I felt the connection develop quickly, I think in part, because what we
believe deeply shows subtly at the surface.
I knew I was the “them” in their “us” (Hamlin, 2013)…At the same time, I
was willing to be trustworthy, as a person, as a parent, and as an
educator--these were our commonalities.
To build trust on a diverse team, we need to find something similar in
the other people on the team; but that something needs to reside in the
person’s approach, or commitment, or quality of character before we will be
able to trust. What we build our trust upon then, is much more stable, beyond
the stereotype, beyond relating only to people in whom we find superficial
similarity. We find something in “them” (Hamlin, et. al, 2013) that moves
“them” into “us”—the team. Operating in
a manner open enough to see that, we would not only have challenged our
personal biases and stereotypes, but we will have gone the distance-“valuing”
that which is different (Sujansky, 2004).
Reference
Reference
Baker, B. (2005) Diversity that matters. PM Network. (19), 3, pp 20-21.
Hamlin, K., Mahajan, N, Liberman, Z., and
Wynn, K. (2013). Babies
prefer individuals who harm those who aren’t like them.
www.psychologicalscience.org
Retrieved from: http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/babies-prefer-individuals-who-harm-those-that-arent-like-them.html
Katzenbach, J. and Smith, D. (1993) The Wisdom of Teams: Creating The
High-Performance Organization. HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY.King, M. (1963). I have a dream. Public address. Retrieved
from:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/martin-luther-kings-speech-dream-full-text/story?id=14358231&page=2#.UX_GE-DDlRA
Sujansky, J. (2004). The five biggest traps
to avoid when leading a diverse team. Occupational Hazards, 66(8), 23.
Cheers, Lynnel
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