Beyond Race and Gender

Chapter 3

Getting Ready for Change

“Your reasoning makes sense. But how do I make managing diversity concrete? Where do I begin? How do I move beyond theory?”

The questions are not surprising. The complexity of the managing diversity challenge and the magnitude of the task can make even the most enthusiastic change agents hesitate. Implementing a management approach to diversity involves a “way of life” change—a change of a corporation’s roots. Changing a corporation’s way of life is equivalent to changing an individual’s personality. It does not come about easily. Matters are complicated further by the reality that most managers have limited knowledge of culture roots, let alone experience with changing them.

Those who wish to implement such ...