Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Melting Pots Are Propoganda

One of the phrases I learned as a child was that America is the "Great Melting Pot." The message intended to describe how wonderful it was that so many unique individuals from around the world had emigrated here and were now magically transformed into one big happy (and generic) family. At that time I thought that was pretty cool.

Now? Not so much.

Melting = Changing
Have you ever had an ice cream cone melt before you could eat it? Ever had a candy bar that was left in the car during the summer? Ever heard of Frosty the Snowman?

Let's face it, other than cheese in the Fondue pot, melting in general sucks. So do I think that melting all of the unique differences, strengths, and diversity of people together and changing them into some sort of giant homogeneous culture is a good thing?

Now? Not so much.

Reject the Message
As I've (attempted) to learn and grow over the years it has become increasingly obvious to me that without leveraging the diversity around me I simply will not be successful. For too many years I've seen leaders connect with other like-minded leaders to make decisions that affect everyone. Why is that? Isn't there a world of opportunity if all of the leadership talent is tapped to create the best organization possible? On a more personal level, have I actually convinced myself that I have all of the answers? Really? There used to be a time when I believed that.

Now? Not so much.

How About You
Do you look forward to welcoming many different types of employees into your organization only to fire up the fondue pot and start tossing everyone in? How many ideas, discussions, and strategic plans are never  realized when we focus on making everyone the same? Melting pots are good for fondue.  People are not fondue.

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.




pics courtesy of kindertrauma and fastfondue

7 comments:

  1. It's funny ain't it. When we recruit we're all looking for that someone special. And once we've got 'em, too often the corporate machine tries its darnedest to squeeze out the originality and just...blandify folks. I think I made that word up - but you get the picture. I confess I like my chocolate a little melty, and I like my people solid, in their beliefs and their original selves.

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    1. Thanks Doug. I agree...what starts as a terrific hire gets put into the corporate blender. That approach just doesn't work anymore.

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  2. Great post Jay, the analogy fits very well! The most successful organisations in terms of employee engagement and productivity have to be those that embrace diversity and empower staff.

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  3. A good lesson in working as team. We all have different skills and strengths--so patience and understanding are key. Nice post.

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    1. Teams, particularly diverse ones, are essential. You make a great point that we all bring different skills to the workplace...and using a little patience means those skills might actually get used! Thanks Cindy.

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