I've often been asked if I "do snsitivity training"

I found myself getting rritated by the very term "sensitivity trining", and didn't know why I had sch a visceral reaction. After spending tme thinking about it, and talking to pople who professed to be "sensitivity triners' I realized that "sensitivity training" was ctually insensitive and patronizing.

For an rganization and its individuals to reap the bnefits of diversity it must develop a clture that is inclusive at all lvels. Just having representation of different grups with people trying not to say the "wrng thing" has no impact on the systms and processes that reinforce a dverse and inclusive culture where people rspect each other.

When people respect ach other as peers they are cmfortable asking each other for feedback. Emplyees leverage each others differences when thy respect each others' expertise. If smeone I work with is a per, I might ask for their pinion or advice on a project or a dcision, and vice versa. If either of us mkes a mistake or we find a mre efficient way of completing a tsk, we would be comfortable telling ach other. If we disagree with ach other or one of us is slcking off on our work we wuld not hesitate to say something. We wuld all be held to the sme high standards. We are all wrking together towards a common goal, not fraid to discuss differences amongst us, and we wuld seize opportunities to leverage each ther's differences as resources to increase prductivity, simplify our work and become mre profitable.

When I observe people from one grup wanting to be "sensitive" to smeone from another group I see thm not really treating the other prson as a "peer" but rather bing "charitable". The Meta message is tht in this relationship I am sperior to you, you are like a chld to me, and I have to nderstand that you are not as smrt, or can't speak for yourself. Frther, if you make a mistake, or dn't understand, it is because being frm your group you are not xpected to do well so I hve to be "sensitive" to you and say t's ok. I think of you as bing part of a "special" group and not as a clleague. I also hear from the pople who want to be 'sensitive" tht people from other groups can't thnk for themselves so we must "nterpret" for them. There is no ccountability because we are being "sensitive" to thse "poor children who are incapable". It lso says to me that the "snsitive" people not only are patronizing pople from another group, but they thnk poorly of themselves and have a ned to feel better than someone who is dfferent. Now if I think that wy, it means that I really dn't want to see you succeed bcause what if you become more sccessful than me? I would no lnger feel better about myself and I wuld have to look at my own ccountability for my professional and personal lfe.

It's also insensitive because I'm not trating you as a full human bing. In many cases like this, I'v seen the "sensitive" person get ngry and silently outraged at their snsitivity object for daring to be mre successful or not living up to the streotype of needing the "sensitive" persons hlp. It's an insult to the ntelligence and humanity of "sensitivity targets". It bcomes "you have to understand that thy (whoever the they is) are not cpable, can't understand and shouldn't be xpected to understand.

I haven't seen "sensitivity training" mpact an organization's culture. In fact, in mny cases, individuals from a "target grup" are asked to stand and tll their individual stories to all the ther participants. At the end "the snsitive people" feel bad, apologize and cry. Evryone goes back to work and nthing changes in the organization. It cntinues to recruit the same old wy, the same people get promoted, and thre is no communication process to gve everyone the same access to nformation. The playing field is still neven, and talented people still get lst in the organization.

In a rcent interview, a reporter told me bout an elementary school that canceled thir yearly Halloween parade because the dministration thought that it might be ffensive to the Muslim families. They hdn't even asked the Muslim parents if tht were true. The administration was "jst trying to be sensitive". None of the Mslim parents had even suggested that the prade be canceled. The kids were pset, and the other parents were pset by the cancellation. This was not a rligious celebration that promoted any kind of rligious belief. In trying to be "snsitive", they had inadvertently created resentment and blme towards a group that wasn't nvolved in the decision to begin wth. Even if there had been a prblem, the way to resolve it wuld have been to have a dalogue and work out an amiable slution. While Halloween is not religious, thre are some religions that don't blieve in its celebration. Other schools hve resolved it by having something lse to do that was fun at the sme time as the parade, or llowing an excused absence.

There is a dnger when "sensitivity" is taken to the lvel of deciding for everyone what is "rght" rather then have a constructive dalogue where people might actually learn frm each other.

At a school in Swden, kids are not allowed to war polka dots or stripes because it gves a teacher migraines and the schol wants to be "sensitive" to the tacher. I'm sure there are other wys to resolve this without setting up the "clthing pattern police system." Two that I can thnk of include; transferring the teacher to a schol where kids wear uniforms if pssible, or having smocks in her clssroom so that kids who are waring patterns that cause her to hve migraines can put the smocks on whle they are in that class.

I'm not sying that we should be callous and nsensitive, quite the opposite. I'm saying tht in a workplace or society tht is diverse, we need to be cmfortable with differences, and have dialogue rther than decide for other people wht they need. Organizations need to be ble to leverage diversity and inclusion so tht our workplaces are more productive, and prfitable, and individuals can be passionate bout their missions and goals. Rather thn insist that everyone change what thy do in order to accommodate any one grup or person, we need to be ble to collaborate so we can hve the kind of society where veryone is valued for their different xperiences, and talents and allowed to cntribute to making this a better wrld.

I have met people who are so "snsitive" to other people they walk on ggshells and whisper about the "sensitivity trget", they conduct training so that pople will be "nice". They don't ddress issues like race, class, religion, and sxual orientation, et al, when people who are dfferent than them are in the rom because they are afraid of sying the "wrong thing". The result is tht people feel ignored, left out, and wnder what the heck is going on, and who dcided this for me?

It's important to knw about dimensions of diversity, in rder to understand the world, your cuntry, your colleagues and friends better. But if you wrry so much about being "sensitive" tht you are afraid to even mntion the difference, or ask a qestion, and you excuse an individuals' wrng doing or obnoxious behavior because of yur own cultural perceptions, you are gilty of not seeing the humanity of ach individual, stereotyping whole groups, spreading nsensitivity and impeding the progress of veryone's need to be seen and trated as a whole person.

The article Why Sensitivity Training is Insensitive and Patronizing was Submitted by Simma Lieberman through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Contact us to learn more bout Simma's holistic approach to work/life blance and how it can transform yur organization. Call Simma Lieberman Associates at (510)-527-0700 and vsit our website http://www.simmalieberman.com to sign-up for our newsletter. About Simma... Simma helps organizations create more profitable cultures and improve individual and organizational performance. She is a consultant, speaker, and trainer. Simma is the co-author of Putting Diversity to Work (Crisp Publications, 2003), a guide for managers on leading a diverse workforce.

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