Popular Culture Archives | Jared Kuruzovich

Diversity & Difference: Lessons from Junior’s

Jared Kuruzovich — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 05:13:49 +0000

Each day began the same. I woke up and pulled the curtains open, looking across the Manhattan skyline from the 28th floor of the Marriott Marquis. Down on the street directly below my room, the lights at Junior’s Restaurant were already on, inviting me to step back in time. Just like the diners of the ’50s and ’60s, you don’t go to Junior’s only for the food. You go knowing you’ll get great music and a waitress who asks “What can I get you, honey?” while filling up your cup with strong black coffee. What I didn’t expect was that my morning ritual would so strongly resonate with the theme of the Association for the Advancement of International Education conference I was attending, one that called us to examine diversity and difference, and how our institutions and systems both encourage and inhibit these.

In his poignant essay “America Needs a Miracle,” writer Andrew Sullivan details two radically different takes on the state of American society, both of which agree on a fundamental point: the political and social crises we now face in the United States originated in the laws enacted in the 1960s, setting us on what was perhaps an inevitable trajectory. While the Civil Rights Act and Immigration & Nationality Act of 1965 have undoubtedly done great good, they also opened the floodgates. In the decades that followed, the shifts in population and protections for minorities expanded opportunities for many, creating far more diverse communities that often lacked the tools and understanding to easily adapt.

Globalism brought this to a head, amplifying differences not only in ethnicity, but also socioeconomic status. More importantly, it also replicated the tensions and conflicts we faced in other countries around the world. as cultures negatively reacted to unprecedented levels of migration and technological advances, and in turn diversity. In many cases the animosity is grounded in legitimate concerns: job losses, economic inequity and cultural misunderstandings. It’s not an issue of whether our systems were, and are, right or wrong. It’s about acknowledging that they’ve pitted us against one another, creating clans that ultimately define us: liberal and conservative, left and right, black and white, and countless other allegedly diametric opposites.

Sullivan captures this eloquently: “If humans simply cannot help their tribal instincts, then a truly multicultural democracy has a big challenge ahead of it. The emotions triggered are so primal, that conflict, rather than any form of common ground, can spiral into a grinding cold civil war. And you can’t legislate or educate this away.” Yet legislate and educate are precisely what each side has attempted, but with a blunt hammer swung with insults and blame. Through it all we forget that our issue is no longer solely a lack of diversity. It’s the failure to recognize that we all have differences, and that those differences will always exist. We should be seeking to understand these, not using our voices and positions to dominate in a vain attempt to create utopian communities and workplaces.

The opening “un-keynote” of the conference, delivered by Berkeley professor Dacher Keltner, clearly highlighted our shifting understanding of power wielded in this manner. As opposed to the traditional Machiavellian conception based in fear, coercion and force, Keltner argues that we are increasingly understanding how empathy, courage and generosity allow us to more effectively influence others and instigate change. Far from simply being a theory, this stance is grounded in research. From children in a classroom to billionaires on Wall Street, numerous behavioral studies consistently point to the universal way in which those we are most willing to respect and follow draw upon this common set of tools and, crucially, use gratitude and humility to ground themselves as their power grows.

You don’t need to have a title, certificate or public recognition to influence others in this way and bridge differences, a fact reinforced on the final day as Firoozeh Dumas stepped onto the stage. A native of Iran who grew up in the United States just as her country entered the public consciousness through the hostage crisis in 1979, she experienced firsthand the animosity that can arise from national and racial differences.

During our stay in Newport Beach, the Iranian Revolution took place and a group of Americans were taken hostage in the American embassy in Tehran. Overnight, Iranians living in America became, to say the least, very unpopular. For some reason, many Americans began to think that all Iranians, despite outward appearances to the contrary, could at any given moment get angry and take prisoners.

Many of us are fortunate enough to never endure the stares, the questions and the sneers that others grapple with on a daily basis. I suspect for some the reaction would be to lash out in anger, in frustration over being seen as different. Dumas has never held a position of authority, yet through sharing her experiences with humor and grace, she accomplishes far more than most.

The reader’s guide at the end of Funny in Farsi includes an interview, and the grounding for her ability to connect others shines through clearly: “I have always believed that there are far more good people in this world than bad ones and that most people want to be reminded of our shared humanity rather than our differences.” The simplicity of this view belies its powerful sentiment. People change when they have the opportunity to genuinely engage with others, find commonalities and learn to appreciate differences.

This strikes at the core of the issue. We will never build a diversity program that changes every heart and mind. We will never force those who fear difference to embrace others by prescribing accepted behaviors. Glenn Llopis captures this in “Is Diversity, Equity And Inclusion Bringing Us Together, Or Pushing Us Further Apart?” as he points to a simple approach we too often overlook: “It’s not that culture doesn’t matter. Quite the contrary: we’re all shaped by our backgrounds, our families, our upbringings, the environments we grew up in. It makes us who we are. So let’s lead with who we are.”

Sometimes we need simply need to acknowledge our own biases and lack of experience, let go of our urge to control, and be ourselves. More importantly, we must continually provide opportunities within our organizations and communities to connect with one another—without barriers or artificial structures—as unique individuals with our own experiences, beliefs and values. Listen, reflect, accept…and always maintain a healthy sense of humor. This absolutely will not rectify the collective mistakes of our past nor address every lingering challenge, but it’s a start.

Each day the conference began the same for me, but every breakfast at Junior’s was unique. Sometimes a regular settled on a stool, greeted by name and a “How you doin’?”. The staff would call out to each other across the room, mixing Spanish and English as they watched tennis matches on the widescreen television. Tourists ambled in, adding Mandarin, Japanese and other languages to the clamor. In the world we now live in, diversity is often more easily found than in the past. It increasingly surrounds us, from the towering skyscrapers of New York to the quiet hills of northern Thailand. Differences present a greater challenge. They provoke, needling us with discomfort and unease. But that’s why they are so important to acknowledge and accept.

Our natural tendency is to withdraw, falling back to the familiar. Only by embracing the differences that diversity brings, with openness and humility, do we push ourselves into a state of learning. We don’t always need more laws, programs or initiatives to do this; those already exist and have for many years. Perhaps sometimes the answer is simpler. Whether in our schools, social structures or workplaces, we need to begin purposefully providing more opportunities to explore difference. Crucially, these need to happen naturally. They emerge from sharing our stories and our hopes, from the everyday moments that we experience with one another, tempered with humor and empathy. Perhaps we all simply need to practice compassionate leadership, no matter the scale.

It was my third visit, and the harmonies of The Mamas and the Papas floated effortlessly through the room. Setting the full plate in front of me, the Latina waitress asked, “Can I get you anything else, sweetie?” Another stood by waiting to refill my cup while the white-haired man, a Vietnam veteran, behind the counter threw a towel over his shoulder and set down a jam holder. “Look at this. You got three people to wait on you!”, he joked in his Brooklyn accent. Just a few minutes earlier, he had been exchanging barbs with a black coworker, an immigrant who had thrown an arm around him, bantering about green cards and walls. The old man sighed. “Yeah, we’re gonna build a wall…to keep you in!” His coworker—and friend—walked away, prompting him to throw up his hands. “You see what I have to put up with?!”, he exclaimed. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he went back to work.

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You’re a Doody Head: Debate & Rhetoric in Modern Society

Jared Kuruzovich — Wed, 11 Jul 2018 02:59:35 +0000

Should I respond or not? I mentally shifted gears several times, veering between amusement and annoyance. Several weeks before, I had read an opinion piece in The Nation, one of the most prominent newspapers in Thailand, which claimed that the international school that the writer’s children attended performed poorly in teaching STEM subjects. In his view this resulted directly from the school’s reluctance to hire non-Western teachers (who were deemed as superior in those areas), and he claimed “it is the same in all international schools in Thailand.” A few days later, a second submission took the claim a step further, decrying the hiring of teachers with “mere elementary education degrees” and declaring that those with science and engineering backgrounds (the “smartest graduates”) would be better equipped to teach English.

Neither of the opinion pieces presented evidence to support their claims, nor did they consider the highly varied nature of international schools in Thailand. Being an educator who has worked in the field for over a decade, and someone who simply doesn’t like to let misconceptions rest, I penned a response, What (some) international schools are doing right, systematically addressing each of the points that had been raised. Not all international schools are the same. Many do hire non-Western teachers, including my own. Educational research has consistently shown that trained teachers using pedagogical approaches that incorporate conceptual understandings and inquiry have the greatest impact in the long term. Universities and employers indicate that they want graduates with greater soft skills, not solely technical expertise.

To me, this type of discourse is natural. A claim is made. Evidence is assessed. An argument is presented. But then the Google alert arrived in my inbox. A reply to the brief article I had written was posted, beginning with the equivalent of a schoolyard taunt:

“I think Jared Kuruzovich urgently needs the services of an Asian teacher who could teach him to write concisely. His grandiloquent essay was a big yawn.”

Never mind the irony of using the term grandiloquent (and the racist connotations that the writer claimed to be standing against). At no point was evidence presented to back the original claims. At no point was it mentioned that those claims in both his article and the subsequent one did not align with research, surveys of universities and employers, and standardized test data. At no point were the counterarguments addressed.

It all boiled down to essentially calling me a pretentious doody head.

In 2008 noted programmer and entrepreneur Paul Graham wrote an essay on his website, How to Disagree, that detailed the deterioration of discourse on the internet. The points he raised over a decade ago are more salient than ever, easily evidenced by the comments section on Yahoo! or any other major online news outlet. We relish disagreement, but we have increasingly lost the ability to present our opinions in a cogent, reasoned manner.

Graham broke this down into the Hierarchy of Disagreement, with name calling and ad hominem attacks occupying the lowest tiers and direct refutation representing the most effective approach. Despite the obvious importance of methodically analyzing and responding to evidence when debating or simply arguing, consider how rare this often is even for politicians and everyday citizens. We resort to labels, whether liberal, conservative, extremist, intellectual, redneck or many far less eloquent terms.

These kinds of insults are nothing new and have been present in debate from the time of the Greek philosophers. But the age of mass media has impacted us in ways we could not have fully foreseen. Conclusive figures are difficult to gather, but we do know that the prevalence of reading has been in steady decline, while the amount of time spent on smartphones and other technology continues to rise. Though the internet has made information more accessible than ever, a gradual trend toward media snippets and sound bites has created a culture of instant gratification, and in the process the patience required to read even an essay or listen to a reasoned debate has been lost.

I dread the future of society if people believe a 1,137 word article is too long. I cringe when the use of rhetoric is equated with pretentiousness. I sigh in exasperation when I hear pundits hurling insults of libtard, radical and elitist. What does it say about our collective intelligence and ability to reason if we cannot consider the views of others and the evidence they offer, regardless of whether we agree or disagree with it? We instead celebrate mediocrity and cheer for name calling. It’s simply easier to ignore, to insult and to dehumanize. And in the process we slowly lose the our ability to reason and, more importantly, to impact others.

One of the clearest examples of this shift away from intellectual debate and rhetoric is seen in the vast differences between American presidents. George W. Bush infamously carried the contest of which candidate voters would prefer to have a beer with in 2004 and, despite being an intelligent person, continued to make headlines for putting his foot in his mouth. When Barack Obama became president in 2008, a common refrain was that he was too intellectual, and the election of Donald Trump in some respects felt like a reactionary call to arms as many voters rejected a style of leadership they labeled as arrogant.

What felt like a sharp contrast between Bush and Obama became a gaping chasm when comparing Obama and Trump. While Obama embraced the nuances and complexities of issues, and openly addressed them with deliberate oratory techniques, Trump’s patterns of speech throw all the rules out the window. His stream-of-consciousness approach is punctuated by pauses as crowds cheer and exhibit virtually no logical structure or a desire to incorporate evidence for his wild statements. Excerpts from their speeches say far more than I can:

The genius of our founders is that they designed a system of government that can be changed. And we should take heart, because we’ve changed this country before. In the face of tyranny, a band of patriots brought an Empire to its knees. In the face of secession, we unified a nation and set the captives free. In the face of Depression, we put people back to work and lifted millions out of poverty. We welcomed immigrants to our shores, we opened railroads to the west, we landed a man on the moon, and we heard a King’s call to let justice roll down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

Each and every time, a new generation has risen up and done what’s needed to be done. Today we are called once more – and it is time for our generation to answer that call. For that is our unyielding faith – that in the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it. That’s what Abraham Lincoln understood. He had his doubts. He had his defeats. He had his setbacks. But through his will and his words, he moved a nation and helped free a people. It is because of the millions who rallied to his cause that we are no longer divided, North and South, slave and free. It is because men and women of every race, from every walk of life, continued to march for freedom long after Lincoln was laid to rest, that today we have the chance to face the challenges of this millennium together, as one people – as Americans.

Look, having nuclear—my uncle was a great professor and scientist and engineer, Dr. John Trump at MIT; good genes, very good genes, OK, very smart, the Wharton School of Finance, very good, very smart—you know, if you’re a conservative Republican, if I were a liberal, if, like, OK, if I ran as a liberal Democrat, they would say I’m one of the smartest people anywhere in the world—it’s true!—but when you’re a conservative Republican they try—oh, do they do a number—that’s why I always start off: Went to Wharton, was a good student, went there, went there, did this, built a fortune—you know I have to give my like credentials all the time, because we’re a little disadvantaged—but you look at the nuclear deal, the thing that really bothers me—it would have been so easy, and it’s not as important as these lives are (nuclear is powerful; my uncle explained that to me many, many years ago, the power and that was 35 years ago; he would explain the power of what’s going to happen and he was right—who would have thought?), but when you look at what’s going on with the four prisoners—now it used to be three, now it’s four—but when it was three and even now, I would have said it’s all in the messenger; fellas, and it is fellas because, you know, they don’t, they haven’t figured that the women are smarter right now than the men, so, you know, it’s gonna take them about another 150 years—but the Persians are great negotiators, the Iranians are great negotiators, so, and they, they just killed, they just killed us.

Ideological differences aside, there is a clear difference between these two men in style and an even clearer divide in their ability to present a reasoned argument. Trump is notorious for attacking and denigrating others, building his case by belittling opponents rather than relying on clear, reasonable arguments and evidence to support his views. His approach is replicated thousands, if not millions, of times every day across the internet. Yet as Graham pointed out in his essay, “if you have something real to say, being mean just gets in the way.”

The bottom line is that constructing a logical, reasoned argument does not make a person pompous. Intelligence should not be portrayed as a character flaw, and using effective rhetoric should be celebrated in the same way that we celebrate good writing in literature and film. When we take the time to listen to the views of others, consider their arguments and present a logical response, we’re giving them the same respect that we want to be treated with. Unfortunately, it appears that incivility is not going away, as many now celebrate the online culture of insults, particularly within American politics.

I for one think that if making a polite, reasoned case for my views makes me a grandiloquent doody head, I’ll take it.

The post You’re a Doody Head: Debate & Rhetoric in Modern Society appeared first on Jared Kuruzovich.

Have a Plan C: The Importance of Agile Leadership

Jared Kuruzovich — Tue, 10 Oct 2017 08:31:23 +0000

The photo capturing the last few moments of the Global Goals World Cup (GGWCup) made it all look easy: UN Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador Nikolaj Coster-Waldau beaming on stage, the crowd cheering and laughing, and nothing left to manage beyond how to clean up afterward. Yet months of planning had gone into this event, including coordination across four organizations and three continents…and almost nothing throughout the day had matched that original plan. Our success resulted from the collaborative efforts of multiple leaders, all adjusting to changing circumstances, sometimes only minutes in advance.

Early in 2017, when NIST’s partners at Chelsea FC approached us about the possibility of bringing Coster-Waldau to our school as a part of the GGWCup, my immediate response was “Absolutely!”. A high-profile star from Game of Thrones and a women’s soccer tournament raising support for the UN Sustainable Development Goals: how could it go wrong? The reality of the challenges began to set in after the first few Skype conversations with the GGWCup co-founder, Chelsea FC representative and UNDP leaders. With all of us tackling other projects and responsibilities, creating a comprehensive strategy in advance to ensure a successful event proved to be unrealistic.

Only when all of the leaders in each organization arrived in Bangkok did we begin to have a clear sense of what could happen, and even then, the agenda changed on a daily basis. From canceled public appearances to last-minute paperwork to continual schedule adjustments, we had to work together and coordinate our teams to ensure that, on the face, everything ran smoothly. Though I’ve occupied senior roles for over a decade, I still find that I learn a great deal every day, and the GGWCup served as a powerful lesson in the importance of agile leadership in three key respects, each captured by the words in the photo, drawn from our school’s mission statement.

Your first plan won’t be your last one…but changing circumstances can inspire

My approach in my work is, to put it bluntly, often obsessive-compulsive. I love having a plan, including multiple contingencies for almost every detail. Yet it’s impossible to foresee all possibilities, especially when dealing when multiple stakeholders and needs, and a rapidly changing environment. Though we all have a tendency to see changes in our plans through a negative lens, shifting that perception allows you to turn them into new advantages.

One of the key moments planned for the day of the event was a press conference in which Nikolaj would speak about his work as a UNDP Goodwill Ambassador. Yet it became clear when he arrived was that he much preferred a format that gave a voice to others, as he felt his role was to shine a light on their efforts to work toward the Global Goals. Less than an hour before the designated time, with invited press already gathering, we were still trying to determine the exact format and who would speak.

What could have been a misstep became an opportunity when our Head of School asked a simple question: why not have a student speak? This moment of inspiration turned a potentially dry speech into a powerful chance for our school to highlight how passionate, articulate and responsible our students are. Despite not being prepared, the head of our student council immediately agreed to join when asked.

As the members of the panel sat down and the moderator announced the format, our student rushed into the room and took a seat. Within a few minutes, it became clear that we had made the right choice, and the dialogue became one of the best moments of the day. Even when plans fluctuate from moment to moment, it’s important to look at the possibilities that are created through those changes and take calculated risks to capitalize on them.

Empower the people around you and trust that they know what they’re doing

The face in the center of the photo below may be the most well-known, but all of the others were stars in their own right during the GGWCup. As a leader, I’ve often struggled to entrust people with projects, preferring instead to tackle them on my own. The reality is that this creates an unmanageable workload, and it becomes a liability when others never receive the opportunity to grow through experience.

On the day of the GGWCup, both members of our school community and visitors continually complimented us on the smooth organization of the event and the work we put into it. This did not reflect my own efforts, but rather that of all of the people in this photo and many more. Thinking back to that day, I realized that through brief conversations and phone calls, I said “I’ll let you handle it” and “I’ll trust you” more often than any other time in the past.

From the UNDP representatives who managed Nikolaj’s schedule to students who stepped forward whenever asked, the team behind the scenes were the true secret to the event’s success through their ability to mobilize others as needed. Kevin Cashman, in The Five Dimensions Of Learning-Agile Leaders, identifies this skill as people agility: “Understanding and relating to other people, as well as tough situations to harness and multiply collective performance.”

As a leader, your role needs to be focused on an overarching vision, providing context and supporting others. When you begin to trust your employees, colleagues and partners to bring that vision to life, they will step up the challenge, especially when plans go awry. A leader who cannot step back and give others the opportunity will invariably struggle over the long-term. To put it in even starker terms, the GGWCup would have been a failure had I attempted to manage changing circumstances entirely on my own. Even if our plan may not have turned out in exactly the way we all envisioned, the important part is that others saw it as a success.

Enrich your work, and yourself, by embracing uncertainty

It’s easy to become frustrated when a plan changes and to begin laying blame. As a leader, taking this approach will erode trust and accomplish little. We often tell our students that failure is a learning opportunity in education, but we forget to apply this principle to ourselves. Taking the time to reflect on our behavior and choices in changing circumstances is an important part of growing as leaders. This is succinctly summarized on a larger scale in the 3 Top Traits of Effective Agile Leaders:

Being able to expunge information and learn from it starts with continual reflection and awareness…It’s through this reflection that you’re better positioned to identify when change, evolution or innovation are necessary. You’re better able to understand the complexities from a broader view and navigate through changes analytically and with greater clarity.

Throughout the GGWCup, I began to realize that the suggestions and solutions that others raised in response to the changing plans were often far better than any I could have created on my own. Their positive outlook and quick thinking when problems arose allowed me to put myself back in the mindset of a learner, cataloging ways in which we could make the event even more successful the next time it takes place. Uncertainty became an opportunity rather than a liability.

It is perhaps this final point that reinforces the importance of agile leadership. Whether overseeing an event or leading a company through major changes, our ability to adapt to circumstances, and always have a Plan C, strongly impacts our success: “Ultimately, our ability to continuously learn and adapt will determine the extent to which we thrive in today’s turbulent times.” (Learning About Learning Agility).

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Leadership Lessons from Game of Thrones

Jared Kuruzovich — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 15:00:57 +0000

Though A Game of Thrones frequently explores the darker side of human nature, as well as the many failings of those in power, the most recent episode, “Breaker of Chains”, offers an interesting discussion on the qualities of a good leader. Engaging his grandson in Socratic questioning, Tywin Lannister asks “But what makes a good king?” Holiness? Justice? Strength? Each is analyzed and discarded until young Tommen grasps the answer: wisdom. Tywin’s definition of a good leader is not the most noble or powerful, but the one who listens to others. The irony of course lies in the fact that each of the leaders in George R.R. Martin’s world most often demonstrate precisely the opposite.

I love the exploration of these themes in fantasy fiction. Having been read Tolkien while still in the womb, I devoured the trilogy before I was ten and graduated to a long list of other authors, including Brooks, Eddings, Feist, Jordan and many more. But Martin is different. Traditional fantasy, though occasionally touching on the darker sides of human nature, rarely explored it in such depth. He has no such compunction. Flaws drive his characters, whether simple arrogance or monstrous acts that few of us would even dream of committing. While the lords and ladies of his world may have the best of intentions at times, these deficiencies ultimately destroy their plans – and they certainly do not demonstrate the wisdom lauded by Tywin.

Several of the characters, most notably Joffrey, simply shouldn’t even be considered leaders in the traditional sense. With psychoses that would land them in an asylum or prison, they are tyrants on par with the Hitlers and Stalins of our world. A second group comprises drunkards and lechers, including Robert Baratheon. Though undoubtedly powerful in some cases, it’s hard to imagine that they would be able to maintain their roles for long, at least not with any degree of success. Both of these groups form the individuals who live in their own worlds–a disconnection from others that inevitably leads to failure.

A more interesting group includes the ambiguous leaders who may reveal significant flaws, but have also developed the acumen to succeed in a highly competitive, and even deadly, world of intrigue. Littlefinger and the Lannister family–for all their cold ambition and questionable ethics–quite often appear to maintain an upper hand over all others. But what drives their success? More to the point, is it because of that lack of morality, or in spite of it? Tellingly, these individuals single-mindedly pursue their goals at the expense of others, disregarding the advice of even their most trusted confidantes.

The reality is that we thankfully no longer live in the medieval world that A Game of Thrones emulates, and the Lannisters of our world typically encounter only short-term success. The stock market wolves embody this personality type, and their eventual downfall serves as a good reminder that the unscrupulous pursuit of power and wealth at the expense of others is thankfully not tolerated in modern society. (The extent to which it is, of course, is another debate entirely.)

In that case who in Martin’s world most closely embrace the leadership insights that Tywin identifies? One in particular comes to mind: Eddard Stark. Though he encounters an unfortunate end, he reveals integrity and a collaborative mindset that nearly every other leader in the series lacks. His death actually served to highlight just how out of place he was among the scheming lords of Westeros. If any character of Martin’s could be said to be a true leader, one who inspired others to be better, Eddard would undoubtedly be first on the list.

What sets both him and the Stark family apart in the series is not simply their integrity, but also the commitment they have toward fostering that value in others. Their followers in turn demonstrate a loyalty that few other leaders can inspire. Though in Martin’s dark tale their values lead to ill-fated consequences, we thankfully live in a world in which doing the right thing usually won’t end with our heads rolling.

If we want to better ourselves and inspire others to do the same, perhaps siding with the Starks is not such a dismal prospect after all.

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