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Article
Thinking about Diversity-Related Conflict:
Respect, Recognition and Learning
By Susan Woods
Managing Partner, Henderson Woods LLC
 In the workplace, the keys to making diversity work lie in relationship and learning from difference.
Diversity practitioners realize that we each interpret the world through the lens of our own diversity and
experience.
Diversity of thought and experience lie at the heart of the value proposition of diversity ? and
also pose one of the greatest challenges. The greater the diversity of the workforce, the greater the potential for
misunderstanding and conflict. This working paper, written from a practitioner’s perspective, considers
underlying issues in diversity-related conflict and misunderstanding to explore how dynamics of 1) respect and
disrespect, 2) identity and recognition, and 3) resentment and backlash interfere with relationship and
learning.
A colleague of mine who specializes in organizational change likes to ask the
question: “Why can’t we just announce change and make it happen?” A similar question
can be posed for workplace diversity: “Why can’t we just promote a diverse workplace and
have people get along?
We know that greater diversity in the workplace increases the risk of
misunderstanding and conflict. Even without malicious intent, conflict can arise in
situations where an action carries different meanings when interpreted through
diverse experience. The stage is set for misunderstanding, mistrust, tension, and
conflict. We also know that diffusing tension to move toward resolution must be a
participative process that engages those in conflict.
Increasingly, diversity change
leadership recognizes the critical importance of promoting a workplace culture with
shared expectations around collaborative conflict resolution. None-the-less,
diversity-related conflict remains one of the most confusing and volatile dynamics in
a diverse workplace.
We live in a world that is neither bias-free nor equitable, where power is imbalanced,
stereotypes prevail – consciously and unconsciously. Too often, we identify others
as being “one of us” or “one of them.” Each of us brings life perspectives with us
into the workplace, perspectives rooted in both personal and group identity – our
diversity lens. Experience with disrespect, insult, unfair treatment and injustice
depends, in part, on our race, gender, religion, economic power, education,
immigration status ? and the list goes on. While the outright discrimination of the past is generally condemned, it resurfaces in confusing and indirect sentiments
about worthiness, advantage or the pace of change – too fast, too slow. The irony is
that diversity of experience and thought, a major component in the value
proposition for diversity, is also one of diversity’s biggest challenges.
I heard an excellent illustration of these dynamics listening to NPR’s Talk of the
Nation. [1] On the August 5, 2010 program, How Have Discussions about Race
Changed?, a caller, a white woman who delivers pizza in a diverse neighborhood,
commented that her African American customers hardly ever tip her and she felt
that was because of her race. Leonard Pitts, the invited guest and syndicated
columnist with the Miami Herald, an African American, acknowledged the possibility
of reverse racism and suggested the difference lies in the impact the experience of
racism on has on “the quality of [one’s] life in the larger scale.” READ REST OF ARTICLE
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