Month: June 2020

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K&D Summary

Authors Mark Kaplan and Mason Donovan wrote a book centering around Inclusion and diversity in the workplace. Both authors themselves are managing partners in a firm that specializes in inclusion and diversity in the workplace. This chapter uses a protagonist named Kim who is an executive level manager in a company and runs through a normal day in her work life. Throughout this day, the authors let us know that she has a very hectic schedule and is overtaxed at work and may have good intentions in what she choses to do or say, but the impact doesn’t match her intentions (the authors say it rarely does with anybody).

Essentially, Kim’s actions come off as tone deaf in a way because she uses her busy schedule as an excuse to be insensitive to other employees, even her mentee, who she doesn’t pay attention to and blows her off for a previous mentee who is an “aggressive guy”, which is an attitude she seems to favor. The message we can take from this chapter is that most people have good intentions and that doesn’t usually add up to positive impact, we all have unconscious bias and it affects us at work, there are in-groups and out-groups at work (similar to cliques in schoolchildren) and that there are different levels of these groups: Individual, group/team, and organizational.

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Week of 6/1 Discussion Post

  1. In order to find a valuable source that can be added to our resources, I have decided to look further into neurodiversity. This topic is important to me because my major is inclusive elementary and special education teaching. When I become a teacher, it will be extremely important for me to create an accepting and inclusive environment for each student in my class. I am looking for articles that are professional, but not difficult to understand. I want an article that will get an important message across to the reader. I think that in order to have a meaningful and informational article about neurodiversity, it would be important to hear from someone who has a disability because someone without a disability cannot fully understand what someone who has a disability goes through on a daily basis. I have been using the SU Library website to research articles. I also filter them so that they meet the requirements. For example, I put a filter on that will only show articles that are 5 years old or less. This just helps me to ensure that I am meeting the expectations, and makes it easier to find valuable articles.
  2. According to Harris,  in order to “come to terms” with a specific text, there are three things that someone needs to do: “Define the project of the writer in your own terms…Note keywords or passages in the text… Assess the uses and limits of this approach” (Harris n.d., p. 15). Some of the key words in this article that helps the reader to understand the main purpose are, “bias”, “behavior/actions”, “outsider”, etc. These are just a few key words that are essential to understand. In the Kaplan and Donavan article, the project of the authors is finding out more about inclusive settings and diversity in the workplace. In order to do this, Kaplan and Donavan decide to explain a typical workday to display their main concepts in the “real world”. They also show the reader how small changes to actions and biases in a company/business. This article helps the reader to understand that minor changes can allow for major differences, and it is extremely important to promote an inclusive environment.
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Summary 6/1

The article by Austin and Pasino focuses on the problem that many people with neurological conditions are not well represented in the workforce. However they should because these people often show skills such as pattern recognition, great memory and high level mathematics that people without these conditions sometimes lack. The cause of all this is because organizations often in their hiring process disregard these skills and put a greater emphasis on the things that may be harder for these individuals. The behaviors of a lot of neurodiverse people may run counter to what most companies look for in an employee. While some companies have implemented some type of change in their hiring process to make it easier for these individuals to get hired, many more companies should follow and use the skills of these people to their advantage. In the long run it will help the company and individual achieve goals that they might not have thought would be possible.

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Summary of Austin / Pisano Article

“Neurodiversity as a Competitive Advantage” by Austin and Pisano explores the relationship between people who have neurological conditions and the workforce. This article dives into the problem that people with neurological conditions are not being seen by companies although this specific population provides itself with many opportunities. Companies have ample room for growth when it comes to expanding their staff, but innovation needs to be made in relation to exactly how these companies are recruiting and hiring employees. SAP, Microsoft, HPE, and Ford are some of the many companies which have efforts to solve this problem under way, and SAP specifically has implemented an “Autism at Work” program while also has found that job interviews are not the only way a company can successfully assess a candidate’s suitability, opening the door for those with neurological conditions to be hired. “Neurodiversity as a Competitive Advantage” presents itself with challenges that must be overcome in order to include a more diverse atmosphere in the working environment. As the article explains, some steps managers must take to combat this lack of neurodiversity people in the workforce include teaming with social partners, tailoring methods for managing careers, scaling neurodiversity programs, and setting up a support ecosystem.

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Week of 6/1 Summary of A/P

When we normally think of diversity inclusion, our minds may automatically think about race. However, Austin and Pisano highlight the importance of including neurodiverse individuals in that definition. The two authors dive into the alienation many individuals with cognitive disorders face when entering the workforce. While acknowledging that many struggle to find jobs, they include how those who have jobs have created an efficient workplace around them. Those who are given the opportunity to have a job, as stated by Austin and Pisano, do the job with precision and arguably care more about the job that those who are considered to be normal functioning. The authors then go on to suggest a series of ways that businesses and companies can set up systems for their neurodiverse employees to create a functioning workplace that is accessible for all.

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6/3 Summary

Authors Robert D. Austin and Gary P. Pisano advocate for a more diverse representation amongst organization’s employees, specifically focusing on expanding their workforce to be inclusive to those with neurological conditions. Throughout the article, the authors aim to provide reasons for neurodiversity as these individuals are extraordinary in their own way, with talents and traits that could bring prosperity to a company. While strengthening their article with the wise words and input of credible doctors and scholars, the authors present reasons as to why some companies may feel hesitant to jump onto the inclusivity bandwagon for those who suffer from neurological conditions. In addition, they also advocate for more inclusion by providing those who may be hesitant with ways on how to incorporate more neurological diversity, while also changing the current stigma against those who suffer.

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Discussion week 6/1

  1. I find that the stereotypes and schemas individuals use to guide their understanding of the world have a very strong, unconscious impact on our judgements and decisions. Specifically, I am curious to follow up more with the different studies that involve focusing on individual’s opinions or perspectives on group diversity within the workplace. I will most likely hope to find a study performed by someone who is an expert with group interaction and the effects of how different demographics can change the group mentality. From these experts, I would hope that they would open up discussion as to why some people are more inclusive than others, why some pride themselves on their uniqueness while others try to blend in. I think it would also be worth the time to find research done by I/O psychologist, who have worked within companies to help improve organizational diversity, maybe shedding some light onto which means of action taken by a company create longer lasting impacts. I am primarily going to be looking into studies done within companies and groups of people, as case studies would insufficient, and potentially researching some survey results taken from groups pertaining to topics like “inclusivity” and “diversity”.

3. In thinking in terms of Harris’s approach focused on in Rewriting, it was simple to use when focusing on Kaplan and Donovan’s article. After reading the text, I think it was easiest to define the intended project; in this case, I would define the project to be “Kaplan and Donovan delve deeper into the unsaid conversations about the key concepts pertaining to workplace diversity and inclusivity. Utilizing these key concepts, although there are plenty of other concepts that are also involved, they set up an example of an employee work day, further analyzing the day through each of the key concepts to create a “visual map” for the audience.” I think that this article is mainly to show how in everyday situations, these concepts can be found. Through their deeper analysis, the pair seem to have found ways to jog the mind of the audience, to have them also consider the concepts they have intended for identifying means of diversity and inclusion.

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Week of 6/1 A&P Summary

The lack of neurodiversity in the workplace has become a talked about topic recently. Austin and Pisano’s article, “Nuerodiversity as a Competitive Advantage” highlights the issue of representation, describes the cause of it, then further explains how to resolve this problem. In the article, Austin and Pisano enforce the idea that everyone has different abilities based on how they were raised, and many business owners understand the positive effect that can have on a person’s work. Unfortunately, people who have disabilities are not represented in the workplace as much as they should be. In Austin and Pisano’s view, “Because neurodiverse people are wired differently from “neurotypical” people, they may bring new perspectives to a company’s efforts to create or recognize value” (Austin & Pisano 2017, p. 99). These new perspectives and backgrounds could be especially beneficial to companies because it allows new ideas to be brought to the table. Although accommodations may be difficult to set up, it is important that businesses become more diverse. Overall, this article by Austin and Pisano is extremely important because of the message it displays: people who have disabilities are talented, valuable, and can be a real asset in the workplace. 

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week 6/1 Isaac haseltine prompts

  1. While reading the assigned articles for this class I’ve noticed the main piece of information we are not focusing on is the true perspective from people in minority groups in an organizational culture. Most of the articles address minorities and subgroups that are excluded in some way, although none of the articles actually come from these subgroups. I believe our canon needs a source of information that is less about who and what these subgroups and are more about the perspective from these groups and what they believe is necessary. Using the SU Library and typical research practices I plan on finding an article from that disadvantageous side of the same central topic: How inclusion and diversity are necessary for an organization. I have not started my search yet, but an article written by someone who is part of a minority group facing challenges will stand out to me more since they have firsthand knowledge of how the issue can have negative effects on the people and the organization.

 

  1.   In the article “The Inclusion Dividend: Why Investing in Diversity & Inclusion Pays Off” there is a central example situation that the authors configured to help the reader comprehend their key points and how small variations can bring a larger impact than what is intended. The project that Kaplan and Donovan address is the importance of inclusion and diversity in a work environment, but it gets more complex than that. The standard level of inclusion and diversity is shared by the majority of organizational cultures; everyone with the qualifications should have an equal opportunity and prejudice in the workplace should be combated. Even though this statement is correct, there is a much deeper side to the idea of inclusion and diversity. The amount of actual focus that is given to this matter can be quite low, and the unconscious bias that takes place typically goes unspoken because the majority of workers are included. The articles main purpose is not to tell you why diversity is important, but to share with you the simple mistakes that go unnoticed that can have a devastating impact on the morale and performance of a company.
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K&D Week 6/1 Isaac Haseltine

When it comes to diversity and inclusion in an organizational culture everybody intends to Have a positive and healthy workplace. The article ‘The Inclusion Dividend: Why Investing in Diversity & Inclusion Pays Off’ uses a highly realistic fictional story to convey the difference between somethings intention and the actual impact. An example-manager the authors named Kim worked her way through a typical busy day and included how her actions and words can have a larger impact when you take a second glance. The article’s key points include unconscious bias that occurs in most decision-making settings, as well as the systematic levels and insider-outsider dynamics that form in every organizational culture. These are consequences that are formed when aspects of a culture don’t receive enough attention. For an organization to have a fully equal workplace the executives and staff must turn their focus to themselves and the people around them rather than just the company.