No Pain, No Gain: Making Inclusion Work Conan McKay, ASCCC Executive Committee Mendocino College Cleavon Smith, ASCCC Executive Committee Berkeley City College Spring 2016 ASCCC Leadership Institute June 2016

No Pain, No Gain * The Pain is real…Diversity may cause: Discomfort Rougher interactions Lack of trust Greater perceived interpersonal conflict Lower communication Less cohesion More concern about disrespect ASCCC Leadership Institute, June 2016, Riverside, CA2

Embrace the Pain Enhance creativity Unpack assumptions Hear and understand dissent differently Prepare better Work harder ASCCC Leadership Institute, June 2016, Riverside, CA3

Embrace the Pain – Enhancing Creativity Simply being exposed to diverse perspectives encourages us to search for novel information and perspectives ASCCC Leadership Institute, June 2016, Riverside, CA4

Embrace the Pain – Unpack Assumptions Being with others similar to ourselves lead us to think we all hold the same information and share the same perspective. A group with greater diversity is more likely to unpack those assumptions and enter the discourse knowing that different perspectives may exist. ASCCC Leadership Institute, June 2016, Riverside, CA5

Embrace the Pain – Hearing Dissent Hearing dissent from those from different backgrounds than our own provokes more thought than when the same dissenting view is shared from someone who shares a similar background. ASCCC Leadership Institute, June 2016, Riverside, CA6

Embrace the Pain – Preparing Better Knowing we’re walking into a room with people of diverse backgrounds and diverse perspectives motivates us to prepare better and think through things more deeply than we would assuming that there isn’t much diversity. ASCCC Leadership Institute, June 2016, Riverside, CA7

Embrace the Pain – Work Harder The mere idea of believing different perspectives are out there changes the way we behave. We work harder to come to consensus. We may not like harder, but working harder is better. ASCCC Leadership Institute, June 2016, Riverside, CA8

Yay! Diversity, but… “… So why do most diversity initiatives backfire – heightening tensions and hindering corporate performance? Many of us simply hire employees with diverse backgrounds – then await the payoff. We don’t enable employees’ differences to transform how our organization does work. When employees use their differences to shape new goals, processes, leadership approaches, and teams, they bring more of themselves to work. They feel more committed to their jobs – and their companies grow. How to activate this virtuous cycle? Transcend two existing diversity paradigms: assimilation (“we’re all the same”) or differentiation (“we celebrate differences”). Adopt a new paradigm – integration – that enables employees’ differences to matter.” ASCCC Leadership Institute, June 2016, Riverside, CA9

Yay, Diversity…but… “It turns out that the warm, let’s-all-get-along connotations of inclusion are misleading. Inclusion is hard. Very hard. Harder than awareness. Harder than tolerance and sensitivity. Harder than diversity itself. Diversity is about getting a mix, and that’s difficult enough when we take into account diversity sourcing, interviewing, hiring, and onboarding. But inclusion is about how to make the mix work. Now that we have increased diversity, how do we ensure that all individuals, whether or not they reflect the norms of the demographic group they’re a part of, feel included in the corporation’s overall community?” ASCCC Leadership Institute, June 2016, Riverside, CA10

Inviting More/Bringing More Where do many faculty engage with the college/students beyond the classroom but not through or with the Senate? Who are the culturally taxed faculty at your college? How do we build on that engagement or collectively hold what the culturally taxed faculty are currently “responsible” to hold? ASCCC Leadership Institute, June 2016, Riverside, CA11

Inviting More/Bringing More Be prepared to be punched in the face Grab a hand for help getting off the mat and stay in the ring ASCCC Leadership Institute, June 2016, Riverside, CA12

“ ASCCC Leadership Institute, June 2016, Riverside, CA13 QUESTIONS?