Building a House for Diversity: How a Fable about a Giraffe & an Elephant Offers New Strategies for Today's Workforce

by R. Roosevelt Thomas Jr.

"What could an elephant and a giraffe teach people about working together? Some very important lessons, it seems, about the complex--and critically important--issues of dealing with diversity in the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814404634
• ISBN13: 9780814404638
• Release Date: June 1999
• Publisher: Amacom
• Length: 276 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Book on Diversity

Good concept to open the discussion of diversity. Elephant/giraffe and sports analogy was helpful in getting people to talk about the issues.

Good intro to diversity in organizations

I have used this as a supplement to a textbook in a class on industrial organization psychology. Just about every student finds it helpful and sees it as a fresh perspective on diversity. It sets a tone for thoughtful discussions on diversity through the semester.

Finally a book that pulls it all together

Cheers to Dr. Thomas for providing a book that is one of the first -- in my opinion -- to present a clear picture of the need to address workforce, workplace and marketplace diversity. I came away understanding that to address one or two of these components without addressing the third is like commissioning a two to three mile dig, when all the geological reports tell you that oil is six miles down. Half and quarter steps will not lead to success. In the most simple straight-forward way, starting with a powerful parable, Dr. Thomas drives home the point that for true strategic benefits organizations need to make a balance commitment to the all three components.Another great take-away from this book is Dr. Thomas's model for identifying and differentiating between business requirements and preferences.All in all this is an extremely powerful book that should be in every manager's library. Thank you Dr. Thomas.Joe SantanaCo-author of Manage I.T.

INTRODUCES THE IDEA OF DIVERSITY MATURITY & EFFECTIVENESS.

Using a short fable as metaphor and a springboard, shows how managing diversity relies upon building skills and changing mindsets. Most of the book presents case studies of how people who face diversity challenges on the job address them. Closing chapters provide some general guidelines for individuals and organizations for achieving diversity maturity-knowledge about and comfort with the dynamics of diversity-and diversity effectiveness-the ability to deal with people distinctly diverse from you. An interesting work that is nearly on a par with the author's most outstanding contribution, "Beyond Race and Gender." Reviewed by Yvette Borcia, co-founder, Stern & Associates, co-author of Stern's Sourcefinder: The Master Directory to HR and Business Management Information & Resources, Stern's CyberSpace SourceFinder, and Stern's Compensation and Benefits SourceFinder.