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Bring your whole self to your work place – Make diversity matter in all of us

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Why take this challenge?

Be fully diverse and inclusive for a day

Explore how intentional diversity can release unexpected insights and opportunities in all of us

Build deeper relationships through greater appreciation of shared experiences in being

Graphic image reflecting different pathways to take the adventure

“To what extent do you feel comfortable in bringing your whole self to work?”

When I first heard this question asked, I was puzzled by it. After a while, I got it, but my mind began to conjure up an anarchistic dysfunctional parody of what the reality might be like. I mean, I am someone who seeks to talk regularly to Jesus, but I am pretty sure you don’t want that in your face all the time, do you?

Of course the fact is that we are all more sensitive than that, and the reality is likely to be far more pragmatic. But then, if we accommodate the needs of others, can we really ‘bring our whole self’ into any situation beyond those with the people we are most intimate?

And yet the question is more sophisticated than my initial interpretation of it. It asks “to what extent do you feel comfortable?”, and I confess, that if the situation required it, I feel comfortable.

Diversity needs to be more than just inertly holding diverse elements in an unchanged environment. More than our ability to give people the time and space to fit in with the prevailing culture’. Too blend in. And to belong. To deliver its full potential we need diversity to be intentional diversity.

+ Green track - taking it in your stride

Thinking about intentional diversity

What part of your background are you most concerned about bringing into work?

Think about it for a while, and write it down at the top of a piece of A4 paper. Then divide the space underneath into two columns.

On the left hand side write your answers to “What is the worst that could happen?” Consider how you could get it wrong, how it could go wrong, and how it could leave problems.

Then on the right hand side write your answers to “What is the best that could happen?” Consider how you could get it right, how it could evolve positive, and how it could leave lasting benefits.

Then think about how similar or different other people’s lists might look. That is all for the Green track, just something to think about.

+ Blue track - a bit of a workout (click to open)

Bringing Diversity

No matter how much diversity we and our people bring to work, there is always more that we leave out. Usually for personal reasons connected with pragmatism and consideration for others.

But how would it feel to have a day of safe space where we each were required to bring more of that diversity into play? A day of experiment when we each expected each other to ‘risk the disruption’ of intentional diversity, and were enthusiastic about people pushing the boundaries? A day of potential novelties and curiosities that inspire creativity and insight.

Intentional diversity would take a bit of forethought to get right – perhaps set a team on thinking about how it could happen. And the reality is you should not expect it to be productive in any conventional sense. But it will generate learning, trust, and sow seeds that may blossom on later days into new ways of being together that have real value.

And, if you are really feeling adventurous, you could combine it with the Red Track.

+ Red track - stepping up to bat (click to open)

Generating Diversity

Diversity is not just our background and history. It can be our character, and our potential of who we might be in the future.

When I first started in consulting, my employer (PA) sent me on an amazing but weird course. At the end of the first session, the trainer asked us to leave for our break via the windows. Intentional diversity. What was fascinating was the sequence of thoughts and feelings that took place inside of me as we engaged with that – confusion, resistance, bravado, humour, fellowship, excitement, and a strange persisting sense of release. Sometimes, the conventions we operate within need to be a conscious choice to be fully appreciated.

Pick a convention for you (and perhaps your team) and use intentional diversity to break today, and see what happens inside you.

You may find the following resources helpful in tackling your challenge or in gaining further benefits from the skills and insights you develop

To catch up on past adventures you may have missed, feel free to browse our Adventures Library

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Useful links:

Introduction to Leading by Adventure  |  What we mean by spirituality?  |  Why Adventure
Adventures to date   |  I did it, but it didn’t work very well   |  How do I know if it is working
Bringing this thinking into your meetings   |  Adventure & Mental Health
Leading by Adventure community   |  Explore Strategic Support options