THE DIFFERENCE COLLECTIVE
Andrea Sรกnchez Rosas Strategic Design and Management MS Parsons School of Design Integrative Studio 2 Spring 2020
CONTENT
A little backstory...
2
Where I left off in December 2019
6
Research 2.0 Insights and new HMW
10
Concept Ideation
14
Landscape Analysis
16
Concept Testing
17
Identity
20
Sameness and Difference
21
THE DIFFERENCE COLLECTIVE
22
Strategic Roadmap
24
Pilot Project: THE DIFFERENCE COLLECTIVE - In Her Shoes
26
Reflections
28
A LITTLE BACKSTORY...
Growing up in a privileged context in Colombia I was somehow shielded. Being part of the upper social class, I never felt that any part of my identity could represent a disadvantage for me. In this book I want to tell you the story of what I have learned this last two years and how it has shaped my identity. I’ll explain why I believe that only by engaging in difficult conversations, by embracing not only the sameness but also the difference, by understanding the biography of our identity, is that we’ll have higher capacity to participate in creating the good, awesome, inclusive society that we all want. It’s scary for me to tell this story, because I’m showing parts of my past self that I’m not proud of. My most dreaded fear is that you would think I am a spoiled, naive person, because I’ve actually considered this issues very carefully. But it is what it is, and this is the story that makes me who I am today. It all starts a few years ago in Bogota. Back then, I didn’t experienced a lot of tension regarding my identity or believes. As I mentioned before, in Colombia I’m part of the upper social class, and that gave me protection. To give you some context, Colombia is a highly stratified country, and the characteristic that divide us the most is social class. We grow up separated and there is a lot laksj
of friction between classes. The only part of my identity that I was always fighting and rejecting was the fact of being a Latina. No one in Colombia ever called me Latina, because we’re all the same in that way. You know, in my mind the word Latino was equal to illegal immigrant. I had the dream of coming to study to the US, and I believed that because some people, Latinos, were coming to the States doing things “the wrong way”, it was harder for me to come here, I had more barriers, even though I was doing things “the right way”. I hated when I got to the airport, or to any store in the US, and people just by looking at me, talked to me in spanish. Believe me, I hated it, I didn’t want to look Latino or to be classified as part of that community. For the rest of it, I was very comfortable, my life was pretty easy. I lived in a world full of sameness, where the people around me went to the same high schools and the same universities, and we used those attributes to classify people and connect with others. The only time I felt the tension and how this division could be harmful for all of us, was when I started working in MercadoLibre with many people from different social classes. At the beginning it 3
was very uncomfortable, there was a lot of prejudice and stereotyping in both directions, but the easy thing was to ignore it, never talk about it, we just continued working. We never got to have conversations around this. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not as if I didn’t know all the problems that my country faced, it’s just that it was very easy to ignore them and just keep living my life not harming anyone, the one I knew very well. So, in 2018 I fulfill my dream of coming to study to the US. The idea of moving to New York City was exciting. I was coming to my favorite city in the world to study in on of the best design schools in the world. My expectations were so high, it was definitely my dream come true. Until it wasn’t. Turns out, I didn’t have the safety net that my privilege gave me anymore. I was no longer part of the upper social class, so I couldn’t keep classifying people that way. This was the first time that I realized many people saw me as a person of color, the first time I felt part of a minority. This was the first time that I felt that being a woman could potentially represent a disadvantage for me. And, I couldn’t keep rejecting being a Latina anymore, of course I couldn’t. I was a mess, I felt anxious alk 4
most of the time, I had a desperate need to go back home, it wasn’t at all what I was expecting. I felt like that for almost a year. But, NYC has a certain magic, and with all its diversity, it pushed me towards new opportunities. Last summer I went back home and I discovered something inside me was changing. I was embracing the sameness and the difference for the first time. Dancing with this polarity has been one of the most amazing things I’ve discovered this last years. On one hand, being away from home connects you with things you didn’t know you cherished, so being in NYC helped me acknowledge the part of my identity that I didn’t recognized before, my Latino roots. And on the other-hand, I had the opportunity to start knowing and learning from people with all kinds of combinations in terms of identity. I was learning through experience about other people struggles, and for the first time I was really listening. It hasn’t been easy, it isn’t pretty, it is very tough, but what has been happening this last year feels right...it feels awesome! Looking back, I can’t believe how much I’ve changed. What this process has taught me is that, some days it’ll be easier, most of the days it’ll be a lot of work, but it’s always - ALWAYS - worth it.
A very important part of this journey was participating in the experimental prototype sections of the Independent Project: Design Research and Integrative Studio 2 classes: Design Principles and Practices for Developmental Action Learning.
difference, when I was sharing time and space with people from other social classes back in Colombia. Now you’ll see what happened after that initial inquiry.
With a developmental approach, our studio classes were not only based on the Strategic Design methodology, but also on theories, principles and practices drawn from transformative pedagogy, adaptive leadership, action science, learning organizations, and deliberately developmental organizations. Looking back, I can’t believe how amazing working on this project has been. It was, nevertheless, very uncertain, challenging and uncomfortable. That’s what you get when you really dare. When I first came to this class, I had no idea what I wanted my thesis project to be about. Lisa Norton, our incredible professor, encouraged us to follow our heart, to work on something that we really cared about. That, in combination with the developmental approach, made each project in this class a unique showcase of meaning, courage and heart. Back in August 2019, when Lisa invited us to dream big, I decided I need to do a little sense making of that first moment when I felt sdf 5
WHERE I LEFT OFF IN DECEMBER 2019
The Privilege Paradox
Through interviews, research and journey mapping, Sara, who was my research partner and is also Colombian, and I, discovered The Privileged Paradox. Our research during the Fall of 2019 showed us how our privilege, even though it gave us so many opportunities in life, kept us isolated from the real world, it made us fragile. And, how scarcity may contribute to a more resilient attitude. We also discovered that we have the ability to believe we can achieve whatever we want to, and that, many people that live under harder socio-economic conditions, struggle with this. So, at the end of the semester I wanted to understand how might we bring people from different social classes in Colombia together, for them to collaborate and learn from each other. 7
“How might we bring people from different social classes in Colombia together, for them to collaborate and learn from each other?�
I finished last semester with this question, very excited, and again, went back to Colombia for the winter break. Being there and talking to people about my project was horrible to say the least. Imagine you are a person who faces many social and economical struggles on a daily basis. How would you feel if someone who had everything in life comes to you and says “I’m fragile, I’ve been having a hard time living in New York City and studying in the US, and I want to learn how to be resilient? Oh, and also, I can teach you how to dream!” Believe me, that’s not how I would explain my project, but it felt like that’s how they were understanding it. It was awful and uncomfortable beyond imagination. So I came back to New York in January 2020, and I wanted to pivot away from that project as fast I could. But instead, Lisa motivated me to explore why this was so important to me and who I needed to become to address it.
9
I decided I needed to take a step back and ask myself what was it that I was really looking for, and what was a good intervention point for the problem I was facing. During this process I became familiar with the work of Martin Seligman around Positive Psychology and happiness, Mihály Csíkszentmihályi around Flow, and Brené Brown and her amazing research about vulnerability, connection and true belonging. I realized that what I care the most about is connection. I want to help people to connect with themselves and with others. Because connection gives purpose and meaning to life. And all these things I was learning about were the tools that would help me achieve that.
RESEARCH 2.0
I started with happiness and joy, because I thought, that’s what I want to feel everyday and that’s what I want everyone to feel everyday. But I also wanted to feel creative, inspired, driven, and that’s how I got to the state of flow. How could we achieve that level of engagement more often? That took me to belonging. It’s only when we truly belong to ourselves, instead of trying to fit in, that we’ll be able to truly connect with the things that we do, the people around us, and with ourselves. And the only way to achieve belonging is by being vulnerable, willing to allow our true selves to be seen. The pretty, the not so pretty, the weird, the amazing, every part of it. Besides that I continued conducting interviews, asking people about connection, compassion, joy and growth. Going back to research mode allowed me to learn more about social dynamics and self development. It showed me how hard it is to establish a common ground for understanding when we think different, act different or have different believes. It revealed how important it is that we are ready and open to engage in uncomfortable conversations. I found new insights and a question that would determined a better approach to what I wanted to address: connection. 11
Insights WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF OUR COMFORT ZONE IN ORDER TO CHANGE.
MOST OF THE TIME WE ARE EITHER DENYING THE DIFFERENCE AMONG US, OR DISCRIMINATING BECAUSE OF THE DIFFERENCE AMONG US.
WHEN WE KNOW SOMEONE WE LIKE FROM A CERTAIN GROUP WE DON’T, WE THINK THEY ARE THE RARE EXCEPTION.
“How might we encourage people to engage in difficult conversations?”
CONCEPT IDEATION
I conducted two ideation workshops to understand how could we encourage people to engage in difficult conversations. Sharing this space with more people gave me a broader unbiased view of the problem I was trying to address, and helped me understand what were the essential design parameters that the final concept should have. Some of the most important things that came up were: ● People may not be ready to engage in uncomfortable conversations, maybe the focus should be in how to get people out of their comfort zone, to a place where, without engaging, they start questioning or being curious. ● Storytelling is a great resource to share experiences. This could be a tool used to show people what they might learn if they start engaging in difficult conversations. ● It is important to work on a personal level. Many of the misconceptions we have happen because we have unresolved personal issues we have to work on. ● Play as a mindset is a great way to get out of our comfort zone. ● It is also important to deal with this challenge collectively. We can’t address connection alone, and we can’t address connection without working in ourselves. There needs to be a balance between the self and all. 15
Building the landscape analysis allowed me to understand who my competitors might be and what their value proposition is.
Developmental Perspective Therapy Books Collective Psychology Project Braver Angels
Crowdsourcing Living Room Conversations Facebook Authentic Revolution Instagram
Centre for Public Impact SGN
I defined three parameters as key to what I wanted to achieve: ● Developmental perspective: focus on personal growth and change. ● Crowdsourcing: focus on people sharing and collaborating among themselves. ● Call for participation: is someone curating/organizing the initiative/space?
HONY Zoom Strangers Project Free Intelligent Conversations
Blogs
Call for Participation
LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS
CONCEPT TESTING After understanding the landscape, and the most relevant design parameters, I started pitching my concept for feedback: “The only way in which we can start addressing big complex issues that cause division and polarization among us is by having uncomfortable conversations: conversations where we’ll have to ask the point of view, about the way of thinking, about how other people feel, where we’re gonna hear things that we may not agree with, conversations that will defy what we believe as true. Only when we’re able to understand the other’s point of view and our personal triggers, we’ll be able to establish a common ground for understanding. I’m creating a toolset where, through a play and exploration mindset, people will be ready to engage in this conversations. It’ll be an invitation to explore, question and challenge what we believe and who we are” 17
Claudia herself has been working on having this kind of difficult conversations. Purpose PBC is a strategy consultancy, a creative agency and a social movement incubator. They work building and supporting movements to advance the fight for an open, just, and habitable world.
Claudia Strategist at Purpose MS Strategic Design and Management Parsons School of Design 18
She seemed excited about the project, and suggested that it’s important to find the right scope for starters. What specific “big issue” am I trying to address? Who is my target beneficiary, in detail? Another thing that she mentioned is that it’s important to explain why this is important. Why having difficult conversations or learning from other people’s experience is relevant? What might we gain if we do so?
When I told Maria about the project, she was interested in learning more about my motivation, so I told her the story of how I became aware that engaging in difficult conversations is important. She mentioned I should dive into the concept of identity, how the narratives that we grow up with shape us, and how we change our identity when we learn something new. “Seems like you’re trying to understand how our perception of identity changes depending on the context, and how by learning from others we can rewrite the narratives that we’ve grown with, making them more inclusive”.
Maria Transitional Justice and Humanitarian Assistance National Programme Officer at Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency Master of Global Affairs and International Peace Studies University of Notre Dame 19
When I discussed with Lisa the feedback of my concept testing, she introduced me to the concept of Intersectionality, coined by black feminist scholar Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, and there it was. The AHA! Moment! This was the last piece that would make it all come together: my journey, what I want to do, what I want my impact to be. Turns out it was all about identity, how it’s built not only on what we think of ourselves, but also on how other people think about us, how it changes, and the effect it has on how we see other people and interact with them.
Before, I didn’t want to be identified as Latina, but people in the US identified me as Latina. Back in Colombia, it was not a relevant form of categorization, but here in the US, it is. It was hard for me to empathize with the Latino community in the US because I saw them as different from me and, in a way, harmful for my interests. Back in Colombia, this wasn’t very important, because my main classification characteristic was social class, and I was part of the elite. But here in NYC, I couldn’t do that anymore. I got out of my comfort zone, I met new people, I learned from them, I questioned what I believed, and that is why my percepcion about all of this has changed. That is why today I identify as Latina, I’m proud of it, I celebrate my culture, and I advocate for us.
IDENTITY
My identity changed, and I acknowledge how important it is to understand how other people see me, not using that to try and fit in, but as a way to advocate for me and for an inclusive society.
SAMENESS AND DIFFERENCE Another thing that I realized reflecting on the construction of identity and the dynamics around it, is that we have to start celebrating the sameness and the difference that exist between all of us. We use sameness to affiliate to groups, and avoid difference at all cost. Some of us want to deny it. They want to pretend that we are all the same and that we shouldn’t advocate for any particular group. Others, use it a tool for discrimination, not wanting to understand how this world is build on difference. I want to be part of the group that acknowledges both the sameness and difference, because the truth is, we can find alkdsflaksd
sameness and difference in every relationship we have and in every person we know. It’s only when we start playing with these, and celebrating them, that we’ll get to that common ground for understanding I mentioned before. And I firmly believe that is the path to create a more inclusive, just, amazing world. I believe it because it has helped me, I have changed, and today I can say I’m a more happy, creative, resilient, inspired, connected, driven person. I believe it because I’ve heard other people’s stories about change. I believe it because in the conversations that I have it keeps coming up. 21
THE DIFFERENCE COLLECTIVE
So, after all this exploration, The Difference Collective came to life. In the long run, I envision The Difference Collective as a movement of courageous humans that engage in uncomfortable conversations, as a way to address polarization and division, as a way to achieve inclusiveness and connection, as a way to celebrate the sameness and the difference. Through stories, media, installations and interventions, I want to help people live a journey of self discovery, uncomfort, questioning, and learning.
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STRATEGIC ROADMAP 2020
2021
2022
2025
Pilot project launch
Open to wider target
Launch in Latin America
Interventions across several geographies
Collection of stories
Scale - gain traction
New media/forms of intervention
Strategic partnerships Scale impact
24
In 2020, I’ll launch a pilot project with the aim of showing the people what we want to achieve, and start collecting stories about development, resilience and growth. This will be a segment target to test what is the best way to get powerful stories, what is the best way to engage people, and how are we impacting other people in involving . In 2021, I hope to expand the reach of the project to a wider target, gaining traction and public, and adding more difference to the conversation. In 2022, I wish to launch the movement in Latin America, the place where all of this started and where my inspiration comes from. Having tested and learned from the experience in the US, I want to understand what the better target for different geographies might be, in terms of demographics and issues to address. In 2025, I envision The Movement to be strong enough to be able to transition into a creative agency, that will help different organizations celebrate the sameness and the difference. I believe that there is a space for different interventions and learning in both the for proďŹ t and nonproďŹ t world. I believe that the message of how we can cherish what we feel is the same, but also what we feel is different, is a powerful and relevant one. 25
THE DIFFERENCE COLLECTIVE In Her Shoes
As a first step, I’m launching The Difference Collective - In Her Shoes. This will be a space where women in their 20’s and 30’s get to share their stories about resilience, change and growth. We’ll learn about experiences that have shaped us, challenged our understanding of things, or gave us a new perspective about something. I believe that stories are powerful, and that when you learn about someone else’s story, you’re uncovering a world that you didn’t know before. I have changed because I’ve learned from other people, because I started asking questions, because I try to be, like Brené Brown says, in the arena. This space will be a celebration of the sameness and the difference, and an invitation for more people to be in the arena of sameness and difference.
REFLECTIONS Jonathan Larson was the Broadway composer of one of my favorite musicals: Rent. He wrote in one of his songs: “The opposite of war isn’t peace, its creation”. This journey has shaped me in lots of ways, but the most important part of it today for me is how I’m now very proud of being a Latina… I love when people talk to me in Spanish now! It helped me stop being at war with a very important part of my identity. Now, I want to create for my community. I have the tools and understanding that I didn’t have before, so now I can co-create a better future for my community and for others. Now I have more skills to create a more inclusive world. Hopefully, The Difference Collective would help many people share and learn from stories that keep us close, bridge gaps, and connect us. 28
Finally, I want to thank Lisa Norton, for guiding me throughout this exploration, for being patient with me, and for allowing me to doubt. I didn't know it before, but it was just what I needed. I want to thank my classmates, for sharing their inspiring work and feedback with me. I want to thank all my Parsons’ professors, for shaping how I see the world and the future. And I want to thank my family for always supporting me. Living away from you is the hardest thing I have to do everyday. Love, Andrea 29
