In my last Inclusive Delegation post, where we discussed investing in failure, I made the point that we have to learn to delegate the responsibility not so much the task. This approach allows for margins of error and failure. As such, I went on to say, it has enormous import for minority groups of colour. This is because of the power of ownership. So, what’s the difference in impact between delegating the mere task and delegating the responsibility?
To delegate just the task is to focus on the delegatee as a mere operant who is solely meant to achieve a target. This approach often diminishes the agency of the delegatee. It minimises their capacity for experimentation, agility and innovation. Instead, it instrumentalises them as a mere tool to get the work done. In individualistic frameworks, it may work for a time because the individual is socialised to just get on with it. However, in the medium to long term, it produces tedium, stress or burnout.
While this is inevitably dehumanising, it is all the more for minoritised people of colour who yearn for inclusive belonging. More often than not, people of colour come from backgrounds that place a high value on the power of the group, whether it be community, family or business. This premium prides itself on shared responsibilities and ownership never mind the principle of fairness and reciprocity. This is why we frequently hear of terrifying backlashes in certain workplaces of the Global South, for example, when authoritarian bosses objectify their workers by treating them like dirt. The backlash in such collectivist societies is much more immediate, viscerally acute and devastating.
Therefore, when we focus our approach on delegating the responsibility, we are empowering the minoritised delegatee to take full ownership of the task and execute it in their own personal way. This leaves them with the freedom to experiment with the view of producing excellence. But it also leaves them with the power of inclusive belonging. They, by virtue of reciprocity, will have increased their deposit of investment in you. They will see themselves as part of your core business!
What do you think?
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