Early in my teaching career, I remember meeting one of my classes for just the second time. I asked them for feedback on their reading assignment, Chapter One from our sociology textbook. After a few routine comments, one student took issue with the author. This student, who happened to be an African-American male, criticized the author’s use of the wilding incident in NYC to illustrate the sociological perspective. For those of you who might not remember this incident, a group of young men were accused and convicted of attacking a female jogger in New York’s Central Park.* My student stated that this is just another example of African-American men being portrayed as criminals or thugs, and he was tired of being stereotyped in this manner. After he made his point, a number of other students chimed in, and voiced their support. At this moment, I had to react “on the spot.” How I reacted might very well set the tone for the entire semester. This is an example of an unscripted moment.
These types of unplanned, spur of the moment situations are becoming more frequent in workplaces today. This is partly due to the fact that our nation and our workplaces are becoming more multicultural, multiracial, multigenerational, and more diverse in so many other ways. Moreover, workers and customers are not leaving their diversity at home or in the parking lot; rather, they are bringing it with them into the office or wherever they work. Another contributing factor is what Taylor Branch calls intimate separation. In spite of our physical proximity at work, most of us know very little about each other’s background, culture, and hidden diversity. Consequently, there are opportunities each day for unscripted moments in which we may say or do something which rubs coworkers and clients the wrong way. How we react to these moments “on the fly” can go a long way toward determining our success on the job.
When will your next unscripted moment occur? Are you and your workforce prepared to take advantage of it?
*convictions were later vacated
When I started my career with the Company, long ago, the diversity issue that was obviously an issue was race/nationality (if you weren’t “white” you didn’t work for this Company for long). Now nearing the end of my career the diversity issues that exist are 1) the difference in how men/women are treated and the opportunities that are not available to women and 2) age (seems like everyone is trying to push you out the door, in spite of the knowledge you will take with you).