Author: Lauren Fitzmaurice

1. One search tool that has worked well for me is the Syracuse Library Database search tool. Through this I was able to search by category and look in a specific realm of research. I was able to look at a whole pool of articles about organizational culture and workplace diversity. One roadblock in using this search tool was finding a lot of articles about the exact same thing. To get past this I had to search for specific topics, not the broad “organizational culture.” Before learning how to utilize Syracuse Library’s search tools, I would use google search and have an even broader range of results, with many articles again, coming up with the exact same thing, just due to google’s search algorithm.  Sometimes, with both methods, it takes searching some of the things I have questions about and not what I already know.
2. Going forward into this research problem, my goal is dive more into the real-world applications of our findings from these articles. I want to find more cool and different ways some of these concepts apply. through this I hope to find primary sources that dive into the voices of minority members of corporations, institutions and societies. To find them I’ll continue using the SU library database search tools to find articles with new information. My goal is to find information completely different from what my classmates have found thus far, and really expand our canon when it comes to the topics we continue to discuss each week.

1. One article I found interesting in the class canon was Mike’s contribution, Exploring the Impact of Cultural Diversity on professional Football, by Keith Ingersoll, Edmond Malesky and Sebastian M. Saiegh. This contribution added to our class understanding of organizational culture and diversity because it adds the element of sport. The graphic he included really pushed the article’s point through, in showing how having players from different countries on a team contributed to the team’s success.

Another interesting contribution was Toni’s article,  Challenging the dialogic promise: how Ben & Jerry’s support for Black Lives Matter fosters dissensus on social media, by Erica Ciszek and Nneka Logan. What this piece adds to our class’s understanding is how social media and company’s influence impacts our culture when it comes to opinions on diversity. Toni included a screenshot of a tweet from Ben and Jerry’s, showing clearly a stance on the racism, specifically with the murder of George Floyd.

3. In The problem With Diversity in Computing, by Ian Bogost, he moves between paragraphs and sections smoothly, using transitions effectively. One example of this is when he moves from an overview of several experiences in the issues of diversity with computing, to a counter point. After finishing a story of Webb and her experience in the airport security, he begins the next paragraph with, “But that’s an aspirational hope.” This immediately has the text do a 180 and gets the readers refocused on a new direction the author takes them. He begins to explain the experience of Webb on a broader scale and takes his point to the real world. This transition is effective because it’s short and to the point. He doesn’t drag on the topic of Webb, but instead uses her experience as a boat to the next, more important point. Her experience leads into what it means for the rest of the world, but Bogost doesn’t waste time in switching to his main topic.

1. It has become common today to overlook the experiences of minorities in the workplace, something Gundemir details in The Impact of Organizational Diversity Policies on Minority Employees’ Leadership Self-Perceptions and Goals. However overlooked, these issues are as prevelant as the actual need for diversity corporations now call for in the workplace. 

I used the template in They Say, I Say that Graff and Birkenstein display as “It has become common today to dismiss ________.” I found this framing useful, because it’s more exciting than simply stating, “in this book *blank* says that *blank*”. Instead of this this overused way of framing common in high school English essays, the framing in TSIS does a better job of grabbing the audience’s attention and setting the tone for a less typical analysis we’re used to seeing. The framing I used not only introduces a section from the piece of writing, but brings a real world setting with it, using, “it has become common today to…”

2. Austin and Pisano and Gundemir’s ideas matter because they help piece together this bigger picture we have begun to discuss with diversity. They take different angles to what diversity means in the workplace. Diversity in the workplace has a ripple effect to both the success of the workplace and the outer sphere of society. Our readings have discussed how even in the earliest stages of diversity discussions with gifted programs in elementary schools, the lack of diversity has a ripple effect to the workplaces much further beyond that. A lack of diversity at the earliest level ripples into high school, college and eventually the workforce. Their ideas matter because they show once again the effect diverse people and ideas have on a institution, corporation or workforce. The impact of new and different ideas and techniques shows us again and again what diversity can do to help the success of any group.

1. This week’s readings have me eager to learn more about organizational culture and its impact in our society. It seems to be a blueprint for some, and a cancer to others. In what ways does organizational culture help success in an institution? In what ways does it harm success? Does it cultivate success for only some and the opposite for others? I’m interested in learning more about how an organizational culture came to be in our society, and how it didn’t in other societies. What is t that has society suddenly questioning our organizational default, and is it good or bad to begin to move away from it?

2. “Organizational culture is the sum of values and rituals which serve as ‘glue’ to integrate the members of the organization.” — Richard Perrin

   Culture is a carrier of meaning. Cultures provide not only a shared view of “what is” but also of “why is.” In this view, culture is about “the story” in which people in the organization are embedded, and the values and rituals that reinforce that narrative. It also focuses attention on the importance of symbols and the need to understand them — including the idiosyncratic languages used in organizations — in order to understand culture.

   This definition can be misleading because it relates to the bad realm of organizational culture which attempts to force its parts in line and make them all similar, taking away their individuality. This goes away from a newer call for diversity within organizations, which has proven to bring great success. The idea of “reinforcing a narrative” does the opposite of this.

1. In Margaret Herffernan’s TedTalk, The Human Skills We Need in an Unpredictable World, she engages the audience by starting with a story. Her story details a problem with the current world in its unpredictability. She describes how in our current setup we have a problem in that it is difficult to plan ahead in these circumstances. Again, she begins her speech detailing a problem. She sets it up so the audience believes this is a real problem in the world, and then follows by explaining how she has the answer to it, and that is what her speech is about. By setting the speech up in this way she not only draws her audience in, but she gains credibility. Now that the audience is aware of this problem, they want to know how to solve it, as knowing about the problem makes it theirs.

She continues through the body to explain her answer to the problem, tying in are evidence. She uses evidence of people successfully using her answer to the problem, to show more credibility to the audience that her solution works. Again, she has the audience roped in from the start, because she convinced them from the get that this was a problem worth caring about in their lives. Now they are glued to the speaker until the end of the speech so they know how to combat it. She ends in the same way she started, by addressing the unpredictability of the world and raising a feeling of hopelessness. She responds again, with a “but,” and summarizes her methods for combating the problem. By the end of the speech, she has convinced the audience there is a problem they should worry about, has them worried, reveals and answer to the problem, how they can use it, and convinces the audience they will be fine as long as they use her solution.

2. In Margaret Herffernan’s TedTalk, The Human Skills We Need in an Unpredictable World, she utilizes evidence throughout her speech to back up her points. Her evidence adds to her credibility as a speaker and appeals to the audience’s logic. She begins using evidence from the very beginning of her speech by starting with a story. She uses an example of a company to explain how it is disastrous when the world is unpredictable and people aren’t prepared. This evidence helps the audience believe in the problem she sets up in order to answer it herself. She then goes into her solution, outlining everything about it. Then, throughout the body she pieces evidence back in to add credibility to her solution. She provides examples of countries, corporations and more who use her solution successfully. This helps add to her claim that the solution is the right one to the problem she introduces at the beginning.

She uses this method of introducing problems with answers to follow throughout her speech, which illustrates to the audience that she is the person with all the answers. It shows she is knowledgable on the topic, and by following each claim with evidence by way of examples, she adds to her credibility and keeps the audience glued to her. She becomes responsible for solving the problem she planted in her audience’ heads, and in turn becomes valuable to listen to.

1. Through the Syracuse Library database, I have been able to search certain topics and find databases with many articles on that specific issue. On organizational culture, for example, I’ve been able to search one specific aim of research and find more studies about those type of findings. With my research this week, I have been looking further into neurodiversity, and diversity in general in the workplace, and how that can affect the success of a company. With this in mind, and in the midst of the world’s focus right now, I think it’s important to not only research and listen to the voices who talk about the importance of diversity in their company, but also the voices who are labeled “diverse.” In many corporations, diversity quotas are put in place for PR reasons as well, but it’s often not public knowledge how welcoming or healthy that culture even is for diverse employees. And this goes for racially, sexually, neuro etc. diverse people. The voice of the diverse is as important as the ones calling for diversity who may not be labeled as such. As the Austin and Pisano article stated, while adding diversity can help a company, there are accommodations that need to be in place to help the diverse employees as well.

3. The project of the writers in this case is to convince the reader of the benefits of diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Through five sections, they begin at a smaller level and move into bigger concepts before concluding with takeaways from the chapter. The first section begins at the level of one person’s workday. This has the purpose of putting the authors in the reader’s shoes for relatability. They then move on to beyond this perspective and discuss intent versus impact, as in how the actions of one affect others, calling the reader to question their own. Through the next three sections the authors move on to systematic framework and how the company as a whole can affect its individual parts with all things considered, overall moving from an individual perspective to one that affects and intertwines with the bigger company in mind, before concluding with the main ideas from each section: A sustainable inclusion effort must include change at four distinct levels: individual, group/team, organization, and marketplace. Good intent is not good enough when the impact does not match the intent. Managing the impact of our biases is leadership. What the authors do/“work on” in this chapter is effective because they move between different perspectives and don’t place the author as an other they are simply talking at. They raise counter arguments with responses to follow, and work withrather than against the reader to get them to agree with their proposals by the end of the chapter.