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To me, this is what bugs me about the “diversity” brigade - most of the time the conversation is based around ethnicity, physical abilities, or gender but for b
by devonkim 8y ago
To me, this is what bugs me about the “diversity” brigade - most of the time the conversation is based around ethnicity, physical abilities, or gender but for being long-term thinking we seem to have forgotten that diversity means _everyone_ that can contribute, including age / experience. Simply being old doesn’t necessarily make you better or faster, but it does tend to give you skills. Skills that were acquired over a long career. Skills that make them a nightmare for obscure bugs.
Some folks I’ve hired were older than my father but I valued them for their experience in other industries and to lend their perspectives to how things should be. It is heartbreaking to think that we could be throwing away thousands or millions of man years of valuable lessons - some we should repeat and others we shouldn’t.
- maxxxxx 8y agoThat’s one thing I have noticed in all diversity material. It’s always young good looking people. There are no older, overweight, disabled or other types of people. It seems the diversity movement has changed the favored groups but I am not sure it’s much more inclusive.
- justaguyhere 8y agoI guess everyone's idea of diversity is different and no-one's idea includes every group :(
- hpcjoe 8y agoI've tried using paraphrases like this "but it does tend to give you skills. Skills that were acquired over a long career. Skills that make them a nightmare for obscure bugs." It falls flat, and all I get quizzical stares.
- devonkim 8y agoWe can’t all be James Mickens when it comes to prose in professional discussions unfortunately. If people get it, that’s still a side comment that can carry more depth but the words should still be of substance to the point being made because trying to stop your content for comedic / dramatic effect can backfire as you’ve observed, especially with a diverse audience. Being inclusive and respectful to your audience doesn’t mean stopping with referential humor / puns entirely though IMO. Heck, quoting some random famous person in your slides is kind of the time honored name drop of smart people humblebragging but few seem to say that’s a practice that’s alienating compared to ping pong or beer in the workplace.