Running Head: MODULE 6 1

Module 6 and What I Learned

Harley A. Senical

Arizona State University

OGL 350 - Diversity and Organizations

Professor: Sarah Zembrowski

February 20, 2022

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Module 6 and What I Learned

Last week, we discussed intercultural competencies and awareness, theories and

processes relating to intercultural group dynamics, and the impact of culture on interpersonal and

small-group interactions. This week we went over cross-cultural and individual differences in

conflict management, how to be better prepared to manage conflict and reduce diversity conflict,

and understanding theories relating to conflict and diversity in organizations. In the following

paragraphs, I will discuss what I learned about diversity conflict in organizations, the types of

diversity conflicts I have witnessed, and how these concepts affect how it will behave in the

organizations in my life. Finally, I hope to explore this week's readings and solidify the teachings

from this lesson.

I am quickly learning that most organizations that run their diversity programs are not

what they should be. At this point, we should be way ahead of where we are. There is a lot to

learn, but the information and the people willing to teach it are there. Leaders, CEOs, Company

managers need to put aside their egos, make genuine apologies, and be willing to learn. Being

willing to learn means that we need to be ready and willing to fail; we have to want to fail

because it is the only way to move forward. Because we are nowhere near the stage of diversity

and inclusion we need to be at; there will be conflict and lots of it. Friedrich states that we need

to encourage others to focus on the problem and not negatively towards the counterpart/other

person involved in the conflict. Though there are many differences between us all, culturally,

collaboration and confrontation will be multitudes easier by inviting the other to come with and

figure out the problem instead of accusing the other of not conforming to us (Friedrich, 2018. p.

4). That being said, when we approach diversity and leadership training (which should be the

same but isn't yet), we need to mean it. We cannot do these one-and-done training; we cannot do
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them to check a box; the training needs to be handled with the respect they deserve because the

people affected by this training are not. If organizations don't approach training, there won't be

any impact; and there is danger. You run the risk of re-traumatizing people and possibly bringing

more trauma into the workplace, which is why it's even more important to be intentional. We

can't just check the box (Brown & Bethea, 2021).

Other ways to broaden our diversity actions (that need to be done) are: being transparent

with the public, looking at your diversity numbers and making sure those diverse people are

happy working for you instead of them leaving and you replacing them, and making sure that

those diversity conversations are happening throughout the company, not just from the HR

department. All the change needs to start at the top, and they need to know everything that is

happening - that is, if they genuinely care about it. Finally, we need to start managing our

conflict effectively. In his podcast interview, Christian (2018) says that we need to acknowledge

other people's emotions and points of view.

On top of that, it is essential when approaching diversity conversations that we do our

research and know what we are talking about. If you don't know about a particular culture or

group of people, it is your responsibility to find that information. They are essential, and if you

see them that way, you need to mean it.

The diversity conflicts I have witnessed in my organization are stereotype-level conflicts.

As mentioned before, the military gathers people from different places, cultures, and

backgrounds. It is bound to have some issues. We are put through a lot of diversity and inclusion

training, and with all of us going through basic training, we relied on each other to accomplish

goals. All these things have brought us together despite any differences, and I think that squashes

many issues. That benign said, there are still ingrained biases and stereotypes. When these issues
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evolve, we are all quick to call each other out and fix the situation, so it usually doesn't escalate

from there, though it does happen (I just haven't witnessed it). The “key dynamics’ in the Giraffe

and Elephant reading summarizes what we went through to squash these challenges. Different

components of a diverse mixture have different perspectives, celebrated and encouraged in our

workplace. However, some breakthroughs are reluctant to embrace genuine diversity fully. This

type of thing takes time to change, it's a personality change, and diversity tension is inevitable.

The thing valued on top of it all is that complexity inevitably accompanies diversity. Overall, we

are all searching for the same goal; we want to be equally known, respected, and welcomed. We

can overcome these challenges because if we don't, we won't thrive (Roosevelt, 1996. pp. 6-7).

After taking the Personal Diversity Maturity index, I was a little surprised at my score. I

thought I would have done better (I scored an 83). However, after reflecting and reading what the

book described where I was, I started to agree. I have thought about diversity a lot but didn't see

it a lot when growing up/ I am very open to learning more about it and wanting to address it in

my life. However, I am unclear how to go about this and learn more, especially within conflicts.

Conflict and diversity are the two main things I want to work on, and they are probably the most

difficult to learn more about. Conflict starts due to differences in perspectives, goals, etc., which

I don't have big trouble with, but I feel unprepared when diversity is thrown into the mix. I value

diversity but haven't been as exposed as I would like to be. “It is important to identify and

acknowledge these differences so they can be appro privately addressed by the conflicting

parties. Unfortunately, conflict can further reinforce and promote bias and prejudice by

preventing the type of contact that can break down misconceptions and help each party better

understand the other. Over time, this tends to become institutionalized, which further solidifies

the boundaries between the parties in the conflict” (Dai & Chen, 2017. p. 20).
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Last week, we discussed intercultural competencies and awareness, theories and

processes relating to intercultural group dynamics, and the impact of culture on interpersonal and

small group interactions. This week we went over cross-cultural and individual differences in

conflict management, how to be better prepared to manage conflict and reduce diversity conflict,

and understanding theories relating to conflict and diversity in organizations. I hope to continue

my education on diversity in organizations in the following weeks.

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References:

Brown, B. & Bethea, A. (2021, February 8). Creating Transformative Cultures

[Podcast]. Retrieved February 20, 2020. https://brenebrown.com/podcast/brene-

with-aiko-bethea-on-creating-transformative-cultures/

Christian, K. (2018, November 18). How to Find Confidence in Conflict, with

Kwame Christian [Audio blog interview by D. Stachowiak]. Retrieved February

26, 2021. https://coachingforleaders.com/podcast/380/

Dai, X., & Chen, G. (Eds.). (2017). Conflict management and intercultural

communication: The art of intercultural harmony. Taylor & Francis Group, 2017.

Friedrich, P. (2018). Cultural Differences in Conflict Resolution. The TESOL

Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching (pp. 1-6). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Roosevelt, T.R. (1996). Giraffe and Elephant in Redefining Diversity. New York:

AMACOM.