Meaningful workplace diversity
By Daniel Fuller
Workplace diversity has been a hot topic in recent years, and it’s not surprising that many people roll their eyes when they hear the term. Some employers feel they have a responsibility to hire diverse candidates but end up fostering a team that don’t necessarily work well together. Unfortunately, they missed the point.
The Cambridge dictionary defines diversity as “the fact of many different types of things or people being included in something; a range of different things or people.”
Diversity can apply to different aspects of a workplace. The least interesting from my perspective is the way things look on the surface, such as skin colour. I’d rather invest my attention into diversity in the way people think, behave, and in their abilities. This may or may not have anything to do with race, gender, religion, etc.
In order for society to function, we need all different types of intelligence, from the berry pickers to the mammoth hunters. Some of us are quick to spot danger and nowadays we call them “anxious”, while others are quick to anger and we call them “toxic”. Maybe there’s a place for both of these types of people in your workplace, even though on paper those labels are negative.
I have been lucky to work with some incredible admin ‘extraordinaire’ people. They’re not like me – they’re patient, they’re methodical, and they can track down that 30 cents from a transaction 10 years ago that nobody else even noticed was missing. Almost anybody can learn the skills to do this type of work, but some people were born with a natural talent for it that can’t be denied.
I’m a person with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) – that’s not a label that I carry around with me into every interaction and life experience, but it’s a valid lens to understand the way my mind works, with its own unique strengths and weaknesses. I’m really good when it comes to expansive thinking, but one of my weaknesses is that every now and then I’ll make a mistake that other people in my life would never make –like leaving a hedge trimmer on a job site.
That sort of thing doesn’t make your boss happy.
I’ve had to work really hard on getting the small details right, and every day that’s a struggle for me. But the expansive thinking stuff comes totally naturally. I’ve written well over 200 articles and recorded over 200 podcast episodes and I’ve never experienced writer’s block even once. I’m honestly curious about plants, so there’s always some new frontier to tell the group about.
Of course, even though there are some commonalities, every person with ADHD has their own stuff going on – no two people really think the same way. But somebody with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) might balance out somebody with ADHD on your team, especially if they’re very methodical but struggle with creative thinking or interpersonal skills.
Sometimes, our diversity is a strength. And other times, it’s either non-consequential or an active barrier. Somebody in a wheelchair faces all kinds of challenges every day, but there would ideally be no barrier to them being an admin extraordinaire if they had the flair for it. But somebody with reading difficulties may face struggles in that role.
Meanwhile, I’ve worked with literally dozens of horticulturists and maintenance gardeners with all kinds of learning difficulties, and besides taking a bit longer to write notes about works performed, it didn’t slow them down one bit.
If you’ve lived your whole life thinking that a disability stops you from having an amazing job, you might have been wrong. There’s probably a job that’s perfect for your unique strengths and weaknesses.
As always, we can look to nature for inspiration on how the world works. Some ecosystems, such as rainforest ecosystems, can be incredibly diverse with countless organisms playing their part. On the other hand, fully functional and stable ecosystems can be found with far less diversity, such as some dry woodland ecosystems. Both have diversity, just on a totally different scale.
Workplaces can be like that, too. Will adding a blue-haired person add to the functionality of the ecosystem, or is it just a surface-level way to project virtue?
Daniel Fuller
M: 042 6169 708
E: hello@plantsgrowhere.com