Today has highlighted again just how different we all are, countries in particular – obvious I know but I have some observations….
Last week I was in Dubai and it was Ramadan, I know that also here in the UK people observed Ramadan, but in Dubai you had no choice, it was the law; no eating, drinking, smoking during daylight hours – a tough call! However if you were out of the public eye or anyone's eye that would be offended by non compliance – then you could sneak to the staff kitchen and have a sneaky cup of coffee and there was even tents with fans for smokers – out of the public eye.
It amazes me how well you can adapt when needed, although I never personally managed to go all day without a caffeine hit, food I could cope – caffeine I could not.
I was training for 5 days during Ramadan and although not the most ideal situation to be trained in or be a trainer, we managed! The brain needs to be hydrated to fully concentrate, and a good night sleep helps – but with late night eating and late night and early morning prayers for the delegates observing Ramadan it was incredibly difficult – but we all got through!
What struck me very forcibly today is how here in the UK we try to accommodate all religions – and of that I am proud – yet have we taken it one step too far in our urge to be politically correct and our desire to accommodate all? I have no issue in embracing all differences – non whatsoever – but what me is; do our urges and desires sometimes outweigh our need to do what is best – in the business sense I aim this question.
Let me explain why I am asking this; today I registered on a UK government website to be notified of appropriate tenders. One of the questions was about our sexual orientation – were we a company led by Gay, lesbian or bi-sexual owners? Were we a company owned and led by women? There were a whole host of other options but these are the two that struck me most. What an earth difference does it make of the ability of the company to do the job well? I can of course understand that company's ran by women(especially blondes!) might get special consideration – we are smart, multi tasking, have the ability to empathise, see beyond the facts, use our intuition etc – but how we enjoy the sexual side of our life?? Come on – what difference does that make?
So let's take this scenario – I might be straight and married but have some perverse sexual deviances – where there is no option for on the form – does that make me more likely to win or lose the work or be able to do the work well?
Can I make a small suggestion to the UK government – dare I? I know that you want statistics, fair enough – so why not give the work on the merits of the tender, the ability to do the job and THEN ask for the details of our sex lives for your statistics – as I am still completely oblivious to why that matters up front.
I know the UK government have targets to meet – and a % of all contracts should be won by the minorities (wrong or right it's a fact) – so let's take this scenario – you have had a lack of bidders that have stated they are Gay – then one finally states they are - do they win the next piece of work because they are and no one else is? How does it work? How does how I have sex relate to how I work? I am really and truly confused!
All I do know is that we are all different, we think differently, we eat differently, we worship or believe in different gods, and that is fab – what a boring world it would be otherwise! I am really grateful that we are all different – that everyone in each company is different – should we question our employees so that we can be an honourable multi cultural and sexually diverse company? I don't think so – I think we should all be judged on our ability to do the job not our sexual preferences - come on UK! We love living in a diverse country but one that has lost all of its common sense? No- No-No- No – reward those that can do the job – then maybe the job will get done and then we can all knock off early on a Friday and enjoy our weekend in which ever way we swing .
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