Joe Gerstandt | keynote speaker, freedom fighter, freak-flag flier

I was in a meeting this morning which ended with several of us talking about the needs, flaws, challenges and other issues regarding diversity / inclusion / cultural competency training.  It cracked open a couple of thoughts in my head, so I thought I would try to share some of them here. 

QUESTIONS / THOUGHTS REGARDING "TRAINING"

1. Language is Powerful:  As I have mentioned before, I think that we have done a poor job of defining the key terms and concepts of our work.  Diversity, inclusion and cultural competency which are all very different things are used interchangably and none of them have been thoroughly defined in an accessible and lasting way.  Any training that we develop / deliver should include some exploration of these terms and concepts…we should know as well as anybody that language is powerful and that we need to do a better job in this area.
2. "Training" is only one piece of the puZZle:  We love to roll out 90 minute presentations and 3 hour workshops on these topics, and I think that there are some of us that do a VERY good job of us…however…the stuff that we are talking about is not  all conducive to the "training" approach.  If you wanted to develop a leader for your organization, you would do more than put them in a 3 hour workshop about leadership (at least you should…you know who you are).  The 3 hour workshop on leadership may be very good, and engaging and informative, and it may give the participants a good understanding of leadership and it may give them some good tools for moving forward…however it does not make them a leader.  That takes time.  It takes practice, reflection and support.  So does developing the skills to effectivley managing the dynamics of difference and excel in a multi-cultural community / organization / market.  We expect far too much from our presentations and workshops.  Part of this is due to the fact that the organizations we work for / with do not really want to make the investment required…they love to do 90 minute presentations so that they can check the diversty box on their to-do list. 
3. Everyone is at a Different Place:  The people that come to our workshops and programs are all at different places, they have had different life and work experience and they have differing levels of self and social awareness.  They have different attitudes, and beliefs.  We cannot expect a paradigm-shattering, life-changing experience for everyone, but we can strive to  provide opportunities for people to connect and share, and we can strive to deliver materials, models and tools that add to the work of all participants.
4. The Issue of Expertise:  One of the things that came up in the conversation this morning, was expertise.  Who is qualified to develop an  "educational" offering?  Who is qualified to deliver an "educational" offering?  What is required?  Topic matter expertise?  Education      expertise?  I am not a professional educator, I do not have an advanced degree, I am not a racial or ethnic minority or a member of           another oppressed group, but I think that I have developed diversity / inclusion / cultural competency workshops, presentations, models, interventions and strategies more legitimate, effective and impactful than 97% of what I have seen in 7 years of looking and studying.  I guess the   market will be the judge.  One of the gentlemen at the meeting spoke to the fact that because he has a diverse staff and works with diverse clients, he is often contacted regarding providing cultural competency education / guidance, and he made the point that being a minority, working with a diverse staff or serving a diverse community does not automatically mean that you have cultural competency or that you can "teach" it.  I imagine that this issue of "expertise" is something that all disciplines struggle with, but it seems to be uniquely complex in this field of work…I guess that might be because we work on the interesection of some very, very different bodies of work (human relations, organizational development, individual development, adult learning, systems thinking, human resources, social justice, social cognition, communication, etc.).  I am one of those that personally thinks the concept of "expertise" is very much flawed, just as our concept of leadership if flawed.  I think that while we can learn a lot of things about education from professional educators, I think that we can also learn a lot about what not to do.
5. We must continue to seek the right balance:  With the training that we do there seems to be five primary components (based on the workshops, conferences, presentations that I have been through) that tend to make up most or all of the curriculum.
• Relationship Dynamics / Communication
• Cultural Awareness
• Social Justice / Systems of Oppression and Inequality / Isms
• Action Items / Specific Models for Change
• Organizational / Institutional / Community level practices and interventions

Not that every workshop or presentation on diversity, inclusion, cultural competency includes all of these topics, but these seem to be the general topic areas that dominate most of these sessions.  I think that far too much time and energy is spent on cultural awareness.  I think that by spending too much time on this and not enough on relationship dynamics / communication and specific action items, we actually tend to send people back out with a new set of stereotypes and no new skills or tools for change.  There are exceptions to this.  I think that healthcare providers, educators and law enforcement professionals, for instance, that serve significant numbers of people from specific culture can benefit from some intense cultural and linguistic education.  I think that the average person does not walk away from the bulk of our "training" with something that they can actually act on.  I think that this balance / lack of balance issue is worthy of further exploration.