Should we reframe American diversity?
Last week marked the start of the
Olympics and my move to Brooklyn after 12 years in
Over the weekend I watched a few
hours of Olympic events every day and was similarly struck by the heterogeneous
American teams and the homogeneous teams from almost every other country. We
talk a lot about ethnic diversity in this country, but I increasingly worry that
we treat it largely as an issue of social justice and not as a global
competitive advantage. As a social justice issue the frame is largely about how
to overcome challenges in society (very real challenges), but I wonder if it
wouldn't be in our broader best interest to change the frame to focus on how to
leverage and expand our diversity to continue to dominate the global economy and
reestablish our credibility as a global political
leader.
How can we change this frame while
still honoring and continuing to address the challenges of racism in our
country?
I believe that real change will come when we see the diversity of the US population reflected in leadership positions in both the public and private sectors. We have seen great progress towards more diverse leadership in this presidential election. We are seeing corporations leverage the diversity of their employee populations as they expand globally. Increased diversity of perspective also leads to higher levels of innovation, a cornerstone of this country. There are so many reasons to celebrate diversity, and we need more leaders like Aaron and Jane to help others see diversity as a great asset.
Aaron, thank you very much for your thoughtful question.
What do you think of electing Barack Obama as a "large-scale" step to reframing America as a successful experiment in diversity and leadership? Not because he is African American, but because his model for leadership is built on recasting American ideals for our present and the future, versus proffering the "good ole days" as a reasoning for holding on to out-dated frameworks?
Secondly, on a smaller scale, if America were to better understand the upside of diversity ... in fact, our success as a nation is directly attributable to either slave labor or cheap labor in the form of poor immigrants matched to vast natural resources, speculators' capital and the promise fulfilled that your work ethic, not your birth, would determine your status in life.
America suffers, I believe, from the successful branding of rugged individualism, manual labor, competition, racism, sexism, and xenophobia as manly, honest, patriotic, and God-given rights, while branding team accomplishments, knowledge work, and inclusion as slightly suspect and devious (getting things done with your mind versus REAL work), elitist, communist and the way politically correct sissies get things accomplished.
This "branding" was essential to attracting and managing poor immigrant work forces but has outlived its usefulness, though our leadership in many industries are now unconscious that the messaging ever existed and have failed to develop and embrace a strategy for change.
I adore the concept of Play to Win as written about by Larry and Hersch Wilson. The authors hone in on recasting "failure" at the personal level as a way to achieve continuous learning. I believe that many Americans are suffering because they personalize the natural and predictable declines of the industrial revolution collectively as a national failure. Again, without a plan to play to win in terms of doing or best, risking failure, and expediting our growth, we have settled in on a trajectory of not to lose, glorifying past achievements, and war as a substitute for a viable plan for progress in this new knowledge economy.
I am certain that the natural rhythms of growth will correct this and can't wait to more often consciously work with others to celebrate and bring to life the variety of opportunities that this shift represents.
Finally, I think it is crucial to understand that we need not fear China nor India's rises in education and power, or position ourselves as being in competition with them. One huge lesson that America has proven for us is that phenomenal success will lift all boats just as America's incredible rise did not destroy the rest of the world but aided in prosperty across the board.
I think highly conscious marketers such as yourself will identify and find ways to communicate our unique competencies such that we continue to profoundly and positively contribute to our global story. I, for one, look forward to seeing the radical and madly successful social experiment that is America more effectively branded, soon, for our benefit today and in the future.