Assessment: Defining Current Realties (Diversity Breakthrough!)

The first of six short and snappy booklets in the well-thought-out and refreshingly straightforward Diversity Breakthrough! Strategic Action series, Assessment helps organizations take the crucial first step toward becoming more inclusive, diverse places: determining clearly and honestly how open they are to welcoming and encouraging all sorts of faces, voices, and ideas.

Like all the booklets in this goal-oriented series, this one comes with self-assessment tools, concrete action strategies to mobilize change, and fun, quick action-planning worksheets, all in a concise 64-page format that's as adaptable to an organization-wide initiative or a small group effort as it is to an individual's nighttime reading and enrichment (where organizational change, after all, often begins). In real-life, first-person accounts, leaders from such diverse organizations as the U.S. Army, GTE, Hewlett-Packard, and American public schools talk about how they've grappled with issues of diversity in business practices, staffing, and overall culture.

Readers can use this booklet alone or in conjunction with others in the series, each of which focuses on a crucial phase in what author Kennedy, a veteran consultant and a former manager of Equal Opportunity and human resources at IBM, calls the "imperfect circle" of change: "Assessment," "Acceptance," "Action," "Accountability," "Achievement," and--you guessed it--"More Action." The Breakthrough system also includes a pack of 52 cards, each of which spells out a specific diversity roadblock (starting with "Our leadership team does not reflect our stated commitment to inclusion."). Passed around in group format, they allow participants to literally "put their cards on the table" about internal issues they'd rather not bring up aloud--making for not just a brilliant icebreaker on a touchy subject but a crucial first step in isolating strengths and weaknesses in the realm of diversity.

Whether read á la carte or along with its counterparts, Assessment is a solid, self-contained, and fully integrated program that demystifies diversity management and accords it the seriousness it deserves. --Timothy Murphy