Are Adults in Need of Social Homework?

A front page article, The Social Homework, in the October 6, 2010, Chicago Tribune caught my eye. In 2004, Illinois became the first state in the nation to require all school districts to teach social and emotional skills as part of their curriculum and daily school life. They hoped that the students would achieve benchmarks such as recognizing and managing feelings, building empathy and making responsible decisions. And in doing so, schools experienced a decrease in disruptive classroom behavior and an increase in grades.


I was reminded of the Jane Elliot experiment in discrimination. In the best-selling media program, Eye of The Storm, Jane describes how our perceptions of others and how we treat others influence their ability to perform. Elliott vividly captured this effect when teaching her students a flash card math game. Students who had performed well were re-tested the next day after being told they were inadequate, slower than other children, not very bright and last in all tasks. Those same children that had performed so well the day before, failed miserably.

What messages are we sending everyday to our colleagues, our families and our students and what impact are those messages having on their ability to perform?

Preview Jane Elliot's Eye of The Storm from Trainer's Toolchest!

Are You Getting Paid What You're Worth? Apparently it Depends...

Time and time again, we've heard how it pays to be good-looking. But, could it impact your economic status? Apparently so.

According to a recent Newsweek online survey of 202 corporate hiring managers and a telephone survey of 969 members of the public, looks do matter in hiring and promotion. And factors such as weight, age, percieved attractiveness and sex appeal can matter more than
education in the hiring and promotion process. Read full report.

A good workplace practice? Probably not, if you're looking for the most-qualified, productive and best-fitting candidate. Create awareness with this hidden camera program done by ABC News - The Ugly Truth. And, educate your hiring managers on all the good reasons for looking past the surface...

Racial Milestone and Diversity Training

The Wall Street Journal's article entitled "U.S. Nears Racial Milestone" in its June 11, 2010 edition, detailed the demographic shift taking place in the U.S. as the white majority becomes a white minority. According to the article, as soon as 2011, could see the white majority of European descent becoming the white minority - which incidentally has already happened in anchor states such as California and Texas.

Interesting statistics from the Wall Street Journal article include:

• Traditional minorities made up 35% of the U.S. population between July 2008 and July 2009, up from 31% in 2000, according to Census numbers
• Hispanics accounted for 54.7% of the total population increase between July 2008 and July 2009, with two thirds of that growth coming from births
• Among Hispanics, there were approximately nine births for every death, among whites it was almost a one-to-one ratio

What effect will this majority/minority shift have on politics, economics and workplace diversity training? How will we shift the emphasis we put on diversity as it relates to ethnicity? Will age, socioeconomic status, or other factors come more into play more than they have in recent iterations of diversity in the workplace? And, will affirmative action as we know it become a dead issue? Or, will voters blocks become the influencing factor in U.S politics and education? What will this mean for U.S. businesses and organizations? Only time will tell, and we'll know soon as we watch this play out here in the U.S.

Trainer's Toolchest provides a wide variety of diversity and inclusion educational and learning tools. We carry the classic A Tale of O, a program originally designed to focus on tokenism. Without ethnicity or gender specified, the "O" could easily be any group or groups of individuals in the workplace based on race, national origin, gender, socioeconomic status, or political affiliation. It's a wonderful resource to enhance continued awareness on majority/minority issues. Diverse Teams at Work (based on the book by Lee Gardenswartz and Anita Rowe) looks at the layers of diversity that make up us all. It's a timeless tool for creating a deeper understanding of the diversity that exists within us all and reminder that diversity is more than what we see on the surface.

Morris Massey And Socialization

I recently rewatched the latest program by Dr. Morris Massey, entitled What You Are Is Where You Where When...Again!

Dr. Morris Massey, with a keen interest in management and human relations, has distilled and delineated three life periods during which values development takes place. According to Wikipedia, these include:

The Imprint Period
Up to the age of seven, we are like sponges, absorbing everything around us and accepting much of it as       true,    especially when it comes from our parents. The confusion and blind belief of this period can also lead to the early formation of trauma and other deep problems. The critical thing here is to learn a sense of right and wrong, good and bad. This is a human construction which we nevertheless often assume would exist even if we were not here (which is an indication of how deeply imprinted it has become).

The Modeling Period
Between the ages of eight and thirteen, we copy people, often our parents, but also other people. Rather than blind acceptance, we are trying on things like suit of clothes, to see how they feel.We may be much impressed with religion or our teachers. You may remember being particularly influenced by junior school teachers who seemed so knowledgeable—maybe even more so than your parents. 

The Socialization Period
Between 13 and 21, we are very largely influenced by our peers. As we develop as individuals and look for ways to get away from the earlier programming, we naturally turn to people who seem more like us.Other influences at these ages include the media, especially those parts which seem to resonate with our the values of our peer groups.

The media-based training package, What You Are Is Where You Where When...Again! provides an adult learning view of Massey's work with an eye for human relations in the workplace. Many working people have not been exposed to this information in this context or format. And, yet the values development progression as provided by Massey benefits anyone looking for a better understanding of people and in the process; improve their work environment, ramp up conflict identification and resolution skills, and enhance understanding of generational values, issues and management skills in the workplace.

A Tale of O Diversity Training Video

A Tale of O Diversity Training Video and Its Use in Male-Dominated Work Environments

I recently read this at the Institute for Women in Trades, Technology and Science blog. The blogger, Donna Milgram, is founder and Executive Director of the Institute for Women in Trades, Technology & Science (IWITTS), a California-based national nonprofit organization dedicated to providing research-based training, e-strategies, publications and technical assistance to the education system and employers nationwide to integrate women into technology and law enforcement careers. 

A Tale of O, the most popular video about diversity worldwide, is unique both in style and content. It shows the striking consequences of being “different” from the others around you – being an O among Xs. The videotape illustrates dramatically how this alone powerfully affects both the Xs treatment of an O and the O’s view of itself, regardless of the nature of the difference. Whether the O differs from the Xs by gender, race, age, language, age or other factors, the effects are similar.

This differential treatment of Os, especially when the difference is highly visible or socially important, is often taken as a sign of bias or deliberate discrimination. A Tale of “O” shows to the contrary that much of this different treatment is largely a consequence of the situation. It is not necessary to blame anyone, unlike many other approaches, which may punish and blame people quite unfairly. A Tale of “O” helps everyone identify with Os since everyone has been an O at one time or another. Moreover, the video suggests whole new avenues to systemic solutions. A Tale of “O” is narrated by its originator, Dr. Rosabeth Moss Kanter of Harvard Business School.


I used this video to do training for supervisors on how to integrate women into male-dominated occupations such as law enforcement and cable installation. I prefaced showing it by mentioning that the narrator has a high sing-song voice, which can be distracting. I’d recommend others do that as well if they are showing it in a predominantly male setting.

A Tale of "O" video is a classic and has found wide-spread use in sensitizing folks in a non-threatening way. It's available from Trainer's Toolchest. And, the full video can be previewed online. Take a look and see if you find the same success that Donna has in using it with her organization.

Good Looks Influence Potential Jurors, Lookism and Appearance Bias at Work

Cornell University released the results of its recent study on "Why Jurors Reward the Good-Looking and Penalize the Unbeautiful." Using undergraduate students as their sample base, the study found that potential jurors do bias towards those deemed socially attractive and do give longer and harsher sentences to those seemingly unattractive defendants.

These results are not surprising, as they reaffirm results found frequently in literature and other research studies. The same study (with the same results) was documented in the ABC News segment The Ugly Truth with extreme candidness. The jurors in The Ugly Truth provide the rationale and feedback for making their decisions.

The Cornell University study takes the results one step further, addressing the "why?" behind this superficial social bias.

"My Generation" by The Who..Ahead of Their Time?

"My Generation" by The Who

People try to put us d-down (Talkin' 'bout my generation)
Just because we get around (Talkin' 'bout my generation)
Things they do look awful c-c-cold (Talkin' 'bout my generation)
I hope I die before I get old (Talkin' 'bout my generation)

This is my generation, This is my generation, baby

Was "The Who" ahead of their time with this song from 1965?

The difference between the generations, especially as it pertains to views about work, is undeniable. And it is not going away.

Today's workforce comprises distinct generations; each with its own shared history, common biases and core beliefs. This generational divide has created a multitude of issues for employees, managers and supervisors to face. Learning what makes each generation tick, and taking the time to consider communication approaches, will advance relationships and help teams during good times and through stressful situations.

Cam Marston, a leading multi-generations expert, with his thoughts on the next generation, The Millenials. Business leaders throughout the nation thought they had their work cut out for them when Generation X landed on the scene. A prevailing mindset was "If we can survive this ‐ if we can just somehow turn them into us ‐ we can get back to business as usual." Recruiting and retaining this generation began as a battle of wills and ended in willful resignation."

Xers had a different perspective on the world ‐ more cynical, more antagonistic ‐ and they weren't interested in being shaped into a mold they saw as disingenuous. They told their leaders "I'll blaze my own trail, thank you very much." And for the most part, they did. Though their approach to work and life is different, and they have a tendency to change jobs more frequently, they are generally committed to doing a job well when there. It looks different, but it is getting done and business leaders are learning to trust that that's okay.

Whew. That's over. Back to life, back to reality, right? Not so fast.

Here come the Millennials...read full generations article
Are you addressing generations in the workplace, communication, working styles and more? Peruse our complete list of training resources that can help..