Konference om Integration, kultur og biblioteker - Statsbiblioteket

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KONSULENTER FOR BIBLIOTEKSBETJENING AF ETNISKE MINORITETER The Diversity Adoption Curve From Marilyn Loden Implementing Diversity. © 1996, Irwin Professional Publishing From her research, Loden concludes that 2.5% of professionals are oriented towards innovation. These are the people who set up projects and new ideas. When the inventors’ ideas are put forward, about 13.5% of the professionals will take them up and implement them. This second group is known as the ‘change agents’. Pragmatists (34%) are brought round after a convincing argument; sceptics (34%) are not so easy to get going, only joining in after a much longer period. And the traditionalists (16%) are not prepared, or hardly so, to go along with the process of change. This last group prefers to keep things the way they were. From the perspective of the Diversity Adoption Curve, the commitment, attitude and vision of the management and staff of cultural organisations are of overriding importance for the success of a policy directed towards diversity. If you want to find out to which segment you belong, ask yourself the following questions. Am I eager to explore and invent new opportunities? Am I optimistic and do I like to test new ideas? Do I see diversity as a creative opportunity? Do I like to influence implementation and lead change? - 22 -
KONSULENTER FOR BIBLIOTEKSBETJENING AF ETNISKE MINORITETER If the answer to these questions is yes, you are likely to find yourself among the innovators and change agents and you are likely to get what you want: more diversity and a staff that can deal with it in an inspiring and effective way. Resistance to change Accepting innovative developments, and forming a process of change in the direction of more diversity is a long process. Every process of change incites resistance and emotion, which is only normal and understandable. This is even more so in the case of diversity processes which, without any doubt, demand change. If you decide to discuss diversity, you quickly get into a situation where some people in the group you are working with find it inspiring and are ready to explore, whereas others will be quite vocal in their feelings about change. You will see fear, and you will see that some people focus on the success of yesterday, or years ago, and show active resistance to doing things differently. For that reason, one must be prepared to invest in training and coaching of personnel. In this day and age, we see many people struggling with changing environments and populations, prejudice, and emotions such as fear, loss and sometimes even anger and racist views. Especially at this point in time, it is important to make sure that personnel of libraries and cultural institutions are working with value systems and attitudes that ensure user-friendly services for all citizens, regardless of their origin. To overcome barriers, libraries need to pay serious attention to the value systems and emotions of their staff. If you observe resistance to diversity and strong emotions, I would advise you to communicate in a sensitive but straightforward way with the people involved. Create situations in a safe environment where colleagues can become aware of the impact of their underlying value systems. In this process of raising awareness, learning and exploration, the people involved may discover that embracing diversity is an experience which is enriching and challenging, rather than threatening. From my experience as a consultant and coach, I know that this process takes time and patience on behalf of all the parties involved. The solution is to work on personal transformation, capacity and competence building. Make sure that learners are approached in a way that empowers, rather than diminishes them. By exploring value systems which are geared towards diversity, and towards inclusion rather than exclusion, a new repertoire of behaviour and skills can be learned. Behaviour in situations in the here and now, where diversity cannot be avoided, will prove whether or not a person is competent. I have experienced that if you trust people's ability to question their beliefs and value system, if you trust that learners have the resources and capacity to learn and transform, then learning becomes a joy. If the learner can discover that learning has something in it for himself and for the organisation, the transformation process will be well underway. After a time you will discover that professionals are open to diversity and are able to change their value system from exclusive to inclusive. Once you reach a situation where staff feel confident about the way they can deal with diversity in the workplace, the work becomes a pleasure. Training and coaching Recently, I met a young teacher who has just graduated from higher vocational training and who is working at a primary school with kids from different cultural backgrounds. She holds the opinion that - 23 -
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