Summary

One of the most important things you can do to create a work context that enhances the potential advantages of diversity while minimizing the potential disadvantages is to remember that developing an effective multicultural organization is an ongoing process. It doesn't happen overnight—or in 1 or 2 years. Like all major organizational interventions, it will include setbacks as well as advances. And small wins can have a big impact. Say researchers Debra Meyerson and Joyce Fletcher, “...small wins have a way of snowballing. One small change begets another, and eventually these small changes add up to a whole new system.”^[117] Thinking strategically and long term, and modeling the behaviors that you want to see, will go a long way toward creating an organization that can recruit and retain the most talented people available, regardless of the cultural groups to which they belong. If you don't do it, somebody else will.