c. 1997 Religion News Service
UNDATED _ To illustrate how”process work”can help solve ethnic tension within a business, analyst Arnold Mindell tells the story of a company headed by mostly white men struggling over the decision of a Filipino woman, one of their leaders, to quit.”When I asked her why she wanted to leave,”Mindell recalls,”she said that it was because she didn’t feel a `part of the family’ and that nobody seemed really interested in talking to her. Others in the company voiced their surprise, saying that they talked to her all the time. She replied that her experiences as a woman of color were different from the rest, and that she felt embarrassed to talk about it.” Mindell says he then engaged in role-playing, taking the part of the white leaders:”I said, `We don’t know what to ask you. We’re not aware of things.’ Then the Filipino woman began to cry, saying `Why should I have to make you conscious? Why don’t you just know?’ Others in the group protested, `This is a business _ personal issues should not be a matter of discussion.’ The lack of the human factor, the woman replied, was precisely the reason she was leaving.” But because the woman possessed special skills, the company didn’t want to lose her, Mindell says. The company resolved to participate in diversity training, where the Filipino woman lectured on what it is like to be a woman of color in a mostly white group.
Mindell says both people of color and those in the white mainstream have much to gain through process work.”White Americans learn that there’s a certain privilege they possess that isn’t easily shared with others. But they also learn that rank and privilege aren’t everything, and that a deeper feeling of unity connects us all that doesn’t manifest until diversity is expressed.” People of color, Mindell continues,”discover that they have incredible leadership potential and that they must stand out as much as possible in order to help everyone become more aware.”
Eds: For more information on process work, contact the Process Work Center of Portland, Ore., at 503-223-8188.
MJP END PEAY
