Analysis of The Loudest Duck by Laura Liswood - Book Report/Review Example

Management "The Loudest Duck" Book Review Brief Summary The Loudest Duck is written by Laura Liswood who is a Senior Advisor in Goldman Sachs and Secretary General at Council of Women World Leaders. The book is a business fable which provides a different view for a multicultural workplace by using of cultural anecdotes and practical stories. The book offers an idea about how should we behave and understand others to form a better environment in the workplace. For example: - Chinese people use to teach the children that “The loudest duck gets shot” and on the other hand Americans teach their children that “The squeaky wheel gets the grease”. It clearly shows the two different ways to do business. It can’t be said surely that which one of these is the right way or the better way ((Liswood, 2010)). Thus according to the need of the situation, we need to understand other’s point of view and then we will be able to do the work as a team. The author has explained that how to get a fair working environment in this modern corporate world. Non dominant groups like minorities, short people, and women face many challenges in order to reach the top level of leadership. Liswood have discussed various challenges faced by the non dominant group and she has also advised some ways to tackle and overcome from this situation by using of some unusual ideas about diversity. The frameworks, practical stories that are discussed in the book have the aim to provide new vision, new understanding of diversity and new level of awareness. As the example of loudest duck and squeaky wheel has given in the above, there must be two different ways to appreciate the two methods. In this era of rapid globalization, this book provides the reasons for which awareness and consciousness should be embraced in order to create a workplace which is beneficial for all and where no one get undue advantages or disadvantages due to their diversity (Creelman Research, 2010). The Loudest Duck should be read by leaders and managers of multinational companies as it gives a fresh look and insightful approach to the gender and cultural differences that must be sort out in order to make a more effective and productive workplace. Major points delineated in the book Noah’s Ark theory of diversity The Noah’s Ark theory of diversity states that if we bring two of every kind of organization in abroad then we will be able to solve the problem of diversity. The author explains that all human beings are products of their upbringings and life experience and they bring these into their workplace. It has been seen that sheer mention of diversity in workplace annoys the other employees and they think that organization is lowering its standards because diversity has earned a bad reputation as many people think that it gives undue advantages to a specific group of people. But diversity is not the actual problem. The real problem is that people tend to bring their unconscious beliefs about themselves and about others in the workplace. Thus the more diverse the workplace is, the more chances are there that we will not be able to create a healthily and fair work environment in the organization and it is just not because of diversity but mainly because of how people treat others who are different from them. If we want to create diversity in the organization then we need to shape the tendencies and attitudes of people in the organization by top down and bottom up approach. We need to create an environment which is free from any undue advantages or disadvantages to provide the employees a work place which fair and justified. We just can’t bring together all corporate animals that are from different diversified environment because they will bring their unconscious perceptions about others who are not equal to them. Instead of this, the employer should build the awareness of the advantages of differences and he/she must follow this consciously. Noah’s ark is full of animals that are from different groups. Thus there might be divisions in the workplace between fat and thin, tall and short, extroverts and introverts, straight and gay, Red Sox and Yankee fans. But the problem is that we tend to bring our unconscious thinking about every other group which was taught to us in our childhood. This is the reason we need to go beyond diversity and we need to create a successful form of Noah’s ark in the organization and not the hard challenges. It is actually very much harder than we think. It has been seen that in today’s market scenario, symphony of corporate power is taking place. The dominant nature of USA has been reduced by the rapid force of globalization and the financial fluctuations. Different cultures, different voices and the demand of modernization in the market place are flowing across all the national boundaries. It has been seen that in today’s world women and other non dominant group of people are emerging as major players at all levels in decision making activities and in the process of economic development of nations. True diversity needs the changes in unconscious beliefs of the people. It is very difficult for an organization to build up huge level of workforce and get the actual benefits of their diversify nature. It is important to take into consideration that in all societies and cultures there are dominant and non dominant group of people. Dominant group of people are those who in power since the historic period of time and non dominant people are those who are historically suppressed in the hierarchy power in the world. People from non dominant group may face some hurdle and challenges and ignoring attitudes from the group of dominant people. Thus they might have less sense of their own right in the workplace. It has been seen that in America, most dominant group of people are the white men and the non dominants are mainly women and minorities. Many women face challenges and complained that promotions are favored to the male colleagues and especially to the white men. Thus Noah’s ark theory of diversity should be implemented to reap the benefits out of the diversity and not to create differences in the workplace. The Elephant and the Mouse This theory states that there are both elephants and mice in every power structure in this world. The main idea of the theory is that elephants are the dominant group of people and mice are the non-dominant group of people. Elephants need not know anything about the mice as they are tall, strong, powerful and have little use of the mice whereas the mice should know everything about an elephant because a mouse can be crushed by the elephant if it does not understand the movement, preference and habit of the elephant. The author wanted to describe the dynamic relation between the dominant and non dominant group in the workplace and in our society. Non dominant groups generally have specific skills like attentiveness, adaptability and vigilance and they develop these skills to survive with dominant groups. It shows that how the world is operated by the people. The dominant group thinks that the world is same for others as it is for them. They have a sense of controlling the environment according to their wish and demand. But the non dominant group needs to have proper idea about the dominant group of people as the environment is influenced by them. Thus the author states that to become a best leader in the modern era of globalization, one must possess the qualities of both elephant and mouse like the elephants are dominant and they feel the right to speak and don’t concern about what the mouse is thinking. On the other hand out of necessity the mouse has developed very strong emotional intelligence. Both of these qualities are necessary for a leader to be successful. It is necessary that a person should have confidence like elephant to speak without hesitation and the ability to move forward where the person wants to go without any kind of worry. Similarly he/she should combine the traits of elephants with the intuitiveness of mouse which will give the ability to understand other’s behavior and thinking, multitasking which is known as emotional intelligence. It has been seen that the most successful leaders combine the positive traits of these two animals. What things seem to be important to the author, and would fit under Organizational Behavior The author has discussed many things that fit under the aspects of Organizational Behavior. The Noah’s ark theory is a perfect example that fits under the aspect of Organizational Behavior. It states that in order to solve the problem of diversity in an organization then we need to shape need to shape the tendencies and attitudes of people in the organization by top down and bottom up approach. Diversity is not the main problem. The main problem is that people tend to bring their unconscious beliefs about themselves and about others in the workplace. Thus it is necessary to create an environment in the workplace which is free from any kind of undue advantages and disadvantages to go beyond diversity. Another theory explained by the author is the Elephant and Mouse which comes under the aspect of Organizational Behavior. It tells that there are elephants and mice in every power structure in this earth. Elephants are the dominant group and mice are the non dominant group of people. Non dominant groups generally have specific skills like attentiveness, adaptability and vigilance. A strong and successful leader must possess the qualities of both elephant and mouse like the elephants are dominant and they feel the right to speak and don’t concern about what the mouse is thinking. On the other side out of necessity the mice have developed very strong emotional intelligence. The next organizational behavior theory explained by the author is “Tell Your Grandma to Go Home”. As we can see that every nation has different culture, behavior, life style and habits thus in a diverse organization every people from different countries tends to bring their own cultures and customs which is referred as grandma by the author. As because we are taught many things from our grandma or from other elderly people in the society thus it gets attached in our unconscious minds while we come for work. For ex- An American is taught to be outspoken where in Asian culture outspoken is seen as rude and is not supported by the society. In a workplace when an outspoken person speaks up then others who belong from the introvert society tend to keep quiet. Thus in this case, the outspoken gets the preference of promotion and increment in remuneration because the employer thinks that he/she might have the best idea and others are not participating. But in this case true aim of diversity cannot be achieved as the introvert persons have not given their ideas. Thus it advised to everyone that while working in a diverse organization we should understand every one’s culture and customs and thus by giving adequate chance to every person the organization will be benefitted. It has been seen from several sources that our unconscious thinking generates from out parents, experience, region and culture, friends and from the fairy tales, myths and from the media. Thus for a true diversity the organization must understand different cultures and customs of different people and the employees also need to keep their grandma at their home to better participate freely in the workplace. Mentoring is also an important aspect of organizational behavior. According to the research of Linda Hill, employees will be able to improve their productivity when they are given such assignments which will stretch their abilities and when they get critical feedback from their mentors. Although mentoring is essential for everyone but in Noah’s ark we can see that everybody doesn’t receives it equally. It has been seen that mentoring process faces some challenges among which diversity is one of the crucial (Sundar, 2013). Cross diversity mainly occurs between the groups who have differences difference in language, body types, marital status and nationalities. There are some mentoring drawbacks like negative stereotypes, getting close, mirroring, risk and resentment by others. It is necessary for a mentor to get to know his/her mentees but in the society when a male mentor get close to his female mentees for just the purpose of get to know better then it is misunderstood by others. Thus male mentors sometimes feel uncomfortable to guide female mentees. Similarly when two people who don’t look alike have lunch or chat together then others in the organization will notice that and think why he/she spending time with his/her even if the gender is same. Thus an organization and the people should understand that mentoring is a tough process and it is necessary too. In order to get a better result and productivity mentoring should be equal for all and mentors should not hesitate while mentors the opposite gender or don’t look alike person. It is very much difficult for a person to speak up his/her ambition, accomplishments and goals when he/she was taught to be quiet in the earlier days of life. It is very much important for an organization to understand that every people will not be equal and thus what is easy for someone might be difficult for others. Diverse companies need to have much more advance planning, implementation, interaction; awareness and method of evaluation and the top managers should realize it (Liswood, 2010). The approaches those are dismissed as being irrelevant, unimportant, misguided, or mythical by the author There are various approaches that are dismissed by the author because they are irrelevant in the modern diverse organization. First of all the approach that men are the rescuer and female are the rescued as we have heard in our fairy tales where heroes are born for accomplishments of different goals and heroines wait for the time when her hero will rescue her from difficult situation. This thing is also injected in our society where white men are dominant group like elephants and female and other minorities are the non dominant group who don’t have power. Other approaches like people tend to bring their own beliefs and customs in a diverse organization which creates clashes between people who are different in language skills, nature, body type and nationalities. The author has stated this things s irrelevant because she has stated that in the modern era of globalization, diverse organization should have more construct planning, implementing and interaction system which will reduce the differences between the employees and will help the employees to deliver better work. How do the author’s recommendations and conclusions compare to research findings The author has given many practical examples of the work culture in America and she has also stated the different things that different people learn in their childhood from their grandmothers or other elderly people. This creates the diversity between the people of one nation to another. The author has compared the conclusion and recommendation very nicely with the research findings in the book. She has also stated that we should left our grandmothers at home before entering into the workplace which means we should open our mind and accept the diversity of others. Works Cited Liswood, L. (2010). The Loudest Duck. Retrieved From: https://mynook.barnesandnoble.com/read.html?k=Loudest-Duck/Laura-A-Liswood&ean=9780470567593#. Creelman Research. (2010). Laura Liswood: Advancing Diversity. Retrieved From: http://www.lauraliswood.com/mediapdf/Creelman2010vol3_3.pdf. Liswood, L. (2011). The Loudest Duck. Retrieved From: http://lauraliswood.org/the-loudest-duck.html. Sundar, S. (2013). Addressing the Challenges of Cross-Cultural and Virtual Communication in the Workplace. Retrieved from: http://scholarship.shu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2927&context=dissertations. Morris, S. (2013). The Loudest Duck. Retrieved from : http://www.sandiegoala.org/PDF/Mandate_2013_Mar_Apr.pdf. Kaifi, B. and Noori, S. (2011). Organizational Behavior: A Study on Managers, Employees, and Teams. Retrieved from: http://www.na-businesspress.com/jmpp/kaifiweb.pdf. Shore, L. et al. (2009). Diversity in organizations: Where are we now and where are we going?. Retrieved from: http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~iido/images/HRMR-Diversity.pdf. Phillips, K. et al. (2010). The Value of Diversity in Organizations: A Social Psychological Perspective. Retrieved from: http://www.sozialpsychologie.uni-frankfurt.de/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Phillips_2011.pdf. Read More