90 minutes (10 minutes for lecturette; 10 minutes for individual work; 30 minutes for small-group discussion; 20 minutes for large-group sharing and discussion; 20 minutes for debriefing)
Work M–H P, D, M
1. To identify behaviors participants find difficult
2. To identify the potential values sources of those behaviors
3. To identify whether the behavior matters in the workplace
4. To identify ways to address such behaviors
• Differences in Cultural Values Worksheet (see Appendix B, page 233)
• Values Differences Handout (see Appendix C, page 235)
1. Give a lecturette on cultural values differences and on whether the “difference makes a difference” (see the “Culture Values Lecturette Outline: Does the Difference Make a Difference?”, Appendix D, page 239).
2. Provide each participant with a “Differences in Cultural Values” worksheet (Appendix B) and the “Values Differences” handout (Appendix C). Ask each individual to identify on the worksheet where she or he is along the continuum for each value dimension by placing an “X” somewhere on each line.
3. Ask participants to form small groups of 3–5 and discuss the following:
• Identify a behavior of a co-worker or customer whom you find difficult. Describe the behavior.
Note: Caution participants not to select a behavior that is a violation of company policy or the law. These are clearly behaviors that cannot be tolerated. Rather, identify one that challenges them personally because of a value they hold. Also caution them to describe the behavior, not interpret what it means. This discussion also assumes the person whose behavior is being described is not present in the training.
• Use the “Differences in Cultural Values” worksheet (Appendix B) to identify a value that the behavior could represent.
Note: Not all values are on this handout, so participants may need to speculate about values that are not listed. Also, behavior is rarely a result of a single value, so they may identify several values for a behavior.
• Which of my personal values may make this particular behavior difficult for me?
Note: Participants should check their own values sheet to see where they placed themselves on a value continuum that they think a behavior might represent. For example, if a member of the group believes someone regularly misses deadlines because he or she values relationships more than task, and one or more group members value task strongly, the differences along this value continuum could make this behavioral difference quite challenging, because it represents a core value difference.
• Does this value/behavior make a difference? For example, does it negatively affect cost, productivity, safety, or legality?
• If so, how might I ask that the behavior be modified?
• If not, how might I modify my response?
4. In the large group, ask each group to share one behavior they identified that did not make a difference and then share how the members of that group thought they could modify their response to it. Also ask them to identify one behavior that did make a difference and share how they decided to ask the other person to modify that behavior.
1. How easy was it to get outside your own behavioral preferences and honestly examine the question “Is this a value-oriented behavior that makes a difference?”
2. When your own value is being challenged by someone else’s behavior, how easy is it to examine that value objectively and to consider another perspective?
3. What values were most difficult for you to examine objectively? Why?
4. What have you learned?
5. How can you apply what you learned to the workplace?
1. Behavior with which we have difficulty often results from differing values.
2. It is easier to identify troubling behaviors than it is to honestly examine whether such behaviors really make a difference in the workplace.
3. It is not easy to describe someone else’s behavior objectively. It is much easier to interpret it from our own values perspective.
4. Many behaviors with which we have difficulty, when examined, are not differences that matter if we can objectively look at them in the workplace context.
5. It is easier to ask others to modify behaviors if they make a difference, especially if we can place the request in the context of workplace productivity, safety, cost, and/or legality.
6. If we can modify our own response when a behavior is not one that matters in the workplace, that adaptation demonstrates a value for diversity.
© Executive Diversity Services, Inc., Seattle, Washington, 1996.