Diversity is the key to a thriving business. The more diverse you are, the more you can succeed.
I think the idea of an “ethnic community” and the idea of “diversity” are two different things. That said, the term “diverse” has become synonymous with “multi-cultural.” The only thing that’s more “diverse” than a multi-cultural business is a multi-cultural community. The only thing that’s more “diverse” than a multi-cultural business is a multi-cultural community where you make money from selling your products.
I’m glad we decided to include a diverse group of people on our board, since I think they will help us reach our goals. We’ve been having some trouble with getting the board members to attend each of our meetings, but they do seem to be more interested in each other and the meetings themselves.
I would even go as far as to say that diversity is a good thing, if you want it. That being said, diversity can be a bad thing too. If you want to be diverse, you need to be different from the rest of the world. If you want to have a diverse business, you need to be more diverse than the rest of the world.
The problem with diversity is that it tends to breed conflict instead of fostering cooperation. We live in an environment that is not even close to being 100% diverse. Almost every company in the world is either very diverse or very non-diverse. And most people are just fine with that. We might have a diverse team, but we still need to be really diverse.
The problem is that diversity is becoming a casualty of globalization. We are all increasingly exposed to the same kinds of information and ideas through the internet in huge numbers. We share a common culture, but we also have an enormous amount of cultural differences. As a result, many people have become increasingly comfortable with their own cultural differences and are unwilling to change or even admit they’re uncomfortable. This causes the entire diversity debate to become one of self-defense.
In the face of these cultural differences, we need to make our own decisions. People have always been aware that diversity is a good thing, but it’s becoming more so as we become more culturally integrated. We need to decide what our own cultural identities are and try to make the necessary changes to allow us to be as “diverse” as possible.
The real issue here is that because we have so many cultural differences, we are unable to acknowledge our own cultural differences and try to make decisions about how we want to be represented. We need to stop making these decisions for ourselves because we are unwilling to change. The best way to do this is to try out multicultural events or organizations so you can see what it feels like to be diverse.
That’s the goal of diverse business meetups, and why I’m a member of the Diversity Council of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. We’re trying to create a better way for us to represent ourselves and others, and the Diversity Council is here to make that happen.
Yes, we all want to get more people involved, but I really don’t want to become one of those people.
