Fault Lines: Cultural Diversity Training in the Workplace

The Maynard Institute’s innovative diversity training program that teaches participants how to leverage workplace diversity into a better connection with a company’s audience and increased productivity.

Despite the increasing cultural diversity in this country, most of us do not walk into the workplace with the skills to talk about diversity issues across the “fault lines” of race, class gender, generation and geography. At best, that means we are regularly missing opportunities to connect with our audience. At worst, it means we are making mistakes that end up embarrassing ourselves and our companies and frequently alienating our audience.

Fault Lines, a highly interactive and customizable workshop, equips participants to recognize, connect with and leverage the diversity around us, as well as to value the diverse points of view we all bring to the table.

Based on the work of acclaimed journalist Robert C. Maynard, who believed that the fault lines of race, class, gender, generation and geography are the most enduring forces shaping lives, experiences and social tension, Fault Lines teaches an appreciation for the ways in which those lines shape our perception of ourselves, others and events around us.

This multi-tiered approach makes it possible to bring more nuance and recognize that there is often more than one fault line at play in any situation. For example, when looking at a “women’s” issue, it’s important to examine how race, class, generation and geography might affect it.

Because the framework emphasizes discussing often highly charged issues with the goal of understanding and not necessarily agreeing, the framework allows for honest discussion within organizations, helping the company’s diversity to be reflected in its work.

Fault Lines also recognizes that we all have blind spots based on our experiences, and it serves to remind all of us to continue seeking out those with different viewpoints.

All workshops, unless specifically requested, include an overview, Q&A and a group exercise that centers on a real-life project the organization is working on or a problem it would like to solve. Longer workshops use several role-playing exercises that allow participants to practice talking and working across the fault lines. In addition, a “Train the Trainers” program is available for organizations that wish to take the training in house. Workshops are best suited to groups with between 10 and 50 participants, although accommodations can be made to work with smaller and larger group sizes.

Fault Lines, sought out by those wishing to advance their careers in journalism -- including TV executives, business people and others interested in better connecting to their audience and increasing their company’s productivity -- has been taught in news organizations, journalism classes, the entertainment industry, churches, community colleges, chambers of commerce and during Black History Month.