On the occasion of the
festival of colours – Holi, people play with colours. Social networking
sites will see uploads of selfies displaying coloured faces. However, it is
pertinent to note that the preferred profile pictures will be ones where the
various colours are distinctly distinguishable and not ones where the colours have
merged to make a mixed shade that appears like a shady smear.
Surely,
the colours look attractive together, but only as long as they do not lose
their individual attractiveness. While coming together is good, we need to be
better at maintaining the diversity. So often, when we move to unite, we insist
on uniformity. But by stifling diversity, we cripple the impact of unity.
The
impact of various types uniting to come together is fuelled by the ability of
the parts to hold on to their individuality as well as align as a collective.
The various instruments in an orchestra play together, but melodious music is
created because of their diverse sounds. Languages are empowered by the various
vocabularies born of different dialects. The rainbow looks beautiful as the
colours in its spectrum retain their colours. The same holds true for teams.
Too
often, in team building, we mistake uniformity for alignment. While alignment
is a boon for unity of the team members, uniformity is a bane. Diversity
involves acceptance and respect. It means understanding that each
individual is unique and recognizing different dimensions of ethnicity, gender,
socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, ideas, beliefs and ideologies.
The exploration of
this diversity in a positive and nurturing environment helps us understand each
other such that we can move beyond simple tolerance to embracing and
celebrating the rich dimensions of assorted capacities of each individual
in the team. The right recognition to diversity will ensure that we truly unite
to impact the larger potential of the combination.
The
colours of the rainbow look good in their unity...
As they ‘Unite to impact’ without losing
their diversity!
- Pravin K. Sabnis
Goa, India.
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