Qualified

 

Issue No. 640 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (March 12, 2025) features a new book that explores the issue (often heartbreaking) of “How competency checking and race collide at work.”  Shari Dunn writes: “My intention with this book is to get us to see past ill-timed Band-Aid actions—ineffective corporate DEI initiatives, ‘color-blind’ solutions, individual mentorship, among others—and provide the hardworking antibiotic that will clean the wound that is racism in the workplace in the United States once and for all.”   Band-Aids vs. Breakthroughs A friend asked me this week why I would want to read Qualified: How Competency Checking and Race Collide at Work, by Shari Dunn. I told my friend about my new favorite quotation from Warren Buffett’s former partner, Charlie Munger (1924-2023). Munger said, “I never allow myself to have an opinion on anything unless I know the other side’s argument better than they do.” (Read more in my 2023 book-of-the-year, Clear Thinking: Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results.) That’s a very high bar. It’s much easier to coast and give in to the social media partisans and the talk show host dogmatists and let them try and persuade me on any given issue. But wait…who do I listen to? And why? And can I articulate Shari Dunn’s voice better than she can? No way. But Munger’s wisdom inspired me to try. So will you read this? Qualified:  How Competency Checking and Race Collide at Work  by Shari Dunn (Feb. 25, 2025)   Frankly, I was somewhat reluctant to do a deep dive into Qualified, but now I’m grateful that the author did some of the hard work for me. I thought I was fairly knowledgeable about racial issues that continue to divide our workplace and our country. (I can do better.) Dunn’s book, at least for me, was not a comfortable read. (Heart-breaking, at times.) But it’s an important book—and I urge leaders, readers, pastors, priests, CEOs, department heads, and HR team members to give it a try. My very limited journey on understanding racial issues began—in earnest—during my seminary years when I met William E. Pannell at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. I read his 1968 book, My Friend, The Enemy, described by one of his friends as “a passionate corrective to a white evangelical community that he both loved and distrusted.”  In 1970, I led a Wisconsin winter retreat for high school students from 70 churches and Pannell agreed to be our speaker. Looking back now, I realize our Baptist churches were not ready for his winsome, but hard-to-hear message. And get this—all the way up to his homegoing at age 95 in 2024, he continued to challenge the status quo. That takes guts. In the 1990s, he suggested that the magazine, Christianity Today, should be rebranded, “Suburban Christianity Today.” For more on Dr. William E. Pannell (1929-2024), read this tribute from Fuller Theological Seminary. Click here for the 2024 feature-length film, “The Gospel According to Bill Pannell,” and here for the film’s trailer. Click here for a five-minute “Message from Bill Pannell,” shown at the premiere of the film. Read this tribute in Christianity Today and this obituary in CT. [THANKS…for allowing me to reminisce about Bill Pannell and my own journey. I wonder if author Shari Dunn and Bill Pannell ever met? And would they agree on most issues? Now…back to our regularly scheduled programming.] COMPETENCY CHECKING. Let’s restart with this question—a key focus of Qualified. Pop Quiz: Define “competency checking.” Dunn documents and defines “the Shifting Standards Model (SSM)” which she says “can help explain . . . [why Black employees must meet a higher standard]. Simply put, you shift the requirements or ‘standards’ based on who it is.” She makes a compelling argument about this. Dunn adds, “Because white employers frequently assume Black people are unqualified or incompetent, they competency-check them by paying more attention to any mistake made during the interview (or on the job) in writing samples, conversations, etc. The SSM could be one factor as to why employers consciously or unconsciously set the bar higher when reviewing the background and qualifications of Black and other candidates of color.” In the chapter, “The Roots of Competency Checking,” the author’s extensive research and memorable anecdotes combine to make her case—a case that is tough to ignore. Oh, my. (The notes in the back of the book—a full 50 pages.) BOOK’S PURPOSE. On how to “Move Past the Past,” Dunn employs an apt analogy—why an entire house is at risk when the foundation is poorly laid. She’s hopeful that we can fix the foundation. Her history lesson is helpful. (Did I also mention heartbreaking?) She writes, “Dismantling systemic racism might require a combination of foundational fixes and ‘tear-downs,’ and the purpose of this book is to reveal a blueprint for you to follow to help you identify what you should be aware of and lay out the tools you will need as we jointly begin this work toward building a more equitable and just society that doesn’t pretend not to see race but acknowledges and accounts for its role as a destabilizing factor.” (Note: There’s a lot of pushback on the term “systemic racism.” Have you done a deep dive on both sides of this concept?) I CONFESS. The first half of the book was tough to read—on many levels. I kept wishing that those who hold different views on some of the issues could be invited into the conversation—right in the pages of the book. Dunn is no fan of many influential people on the other side of some of the issues. She disagrees with the stated positions of many, including the governors of Texas and Florida, several Supreme Court Justices and one TV network (guess which one). She takes a well-deserved swipe at what the CEO of a major bank said in 2020. The CEO is quoted: “While it might sound like an excuse, the unfortunate reality is that there is a very limited pool of Black talent to recruit from.” (Must-read: her response to this alarming and incorrect statement.) See also this from the WSJ, “Big Banks Are Scrubbing Their Public Mentions of DEI Efforts.” I kept reading—and I kept wondering: is Dunn hopeful? She shares a “Band-Aid” metaphor which is both hopeful and helpful: “My intention with this book is to get us to see past ill-timed Band-Aid actions—ineffective corporate DEI initiatives, ‘color-blind’ solutions, individual mentorship, among others—and provide the hardworking antibiotic that will clean the wound that is racism in the workplace in the United States once and for all.” Ironically, Qualified was published just last month—on the heels of more than a dozen major corporations (and other organizations) that are disbanding DEI initiatives. (Some are keeping it intact.) Read this and this. Perhaps she speaks to this prophetically: Saying much of this push-back “…comes disguised as ‘anti-woke’ rage,” Dunn adds this. “These are people who have used rhetoric and obfuscation on personal and national platforms to hijack the terms, malign the methodology, and confuse the debate so that people believe diversity is the illness, inclusion is exclusion, equity is biased, and up is down.” Yikes. Did I mention this book may challenge your strongly-held views and opinions? I will read this book twice, along with others books (including Jason Riley’s book coming May 6, 2025)—and my goal is to be able to thoughtfully articulate both sides (the many sides?) of this heartbreaking issue.   I appreciated Dunn’s “Epilogue”—just four pages. It’s also hopeful. She writes. “Here is where I leave you. I hope this book is received as it was intended: as an invitation. A call to action, not just to acknowledge the profound challenges we face, but to actively and even enthusiastically engage in the hard work of dismantling them.” I urge you to read this book.  TO ORDER FROM AMAZON, click on the title for Qualified: How Competency Checking and Race Collide at Work, by Shari Dunn. Listen on Libro (9 hours, 57 minutes). And thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy.     WANT TO GO DEEPER? Listen to the Bloomberg Businessweek podcast interview with Shari Dunn, “Challenging the Narrative that Diversity Equals a Lack of Qualifications” (11 minutes, 57 seconds).   YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS: 1) Shari Dunn quotes James Baldwin, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” Is our company or organization intentionally facing the issue of “competency checking” at work (or even in our volunteer arenas)? 2) Is the “Band-Aid” metaphor relevant in your company or organization? If not, what analogy or metaphor would you use to describe your aspirations for a healthy workplace where you are leading and managing with God-honoring integrity in your relationships? What Scripture verses are relevant to your HR culture? (In the “Acknowledgments” section of Qualified, the author mentions Proverbs 27:17.)        SECOND READS: Fresh Solutions From Classic Books You have changed—and your problems have changed—since you read this the first time! "Book" #10 of 99: 8 Leadership Flicks! For your team meeting this week, inspire a team member to lead your “10 Minutes for Lifelong Learning” session by featuring “Book” #10 of 99 in our new series, “Second Reads.” The big idea: REREAD TO LEAD! Discover how your favorite books (and movies!) still have more to teach you and the people you’re coaching and mentoring. 8 LEADERSHIP FLICKS! 11½ Hours of Movies, Videos & YouTube   To celebrate the Hoopla! Bucket this week, you don’t have to read anything! Enjoy this curtain call for eight movies I featured at the start of COVID in 2020. Including comedy, these flicks address leadership issues, insights, and ideas.    • (2025 update: Links to the eight mini-reviews from Issue No. 433, April 2, 2020, will be posted here in 2026.)    • Management Bucket #10 of 20: The Hoopla! Bucket Will your team learn more from your next boring talk—or from an afternoon of popcorn and picture shows on leadership? Ask: if this is your second viewing, what did you learn this time that you missed the first time? #1. HARRIET (2019). You’ll want to watch it twice. I was stunned by Harriet Tubman’s attentive heart—always listening for divine direction. Memorable Line: “The hole in my head just made God’s voice more clear.” #2. WE HAVE A POPE (2011). Memorable Line: “Not me, Lord! Not me!” #3. THE SECRET OF SANTA VITTORIA (1969). I stumbled across this one during COVID when the WSJ recommended the novel by Robert Crichton (which I have not read). Set during WWII and directed by Stanley Kramer, and starring Anthony Quinn, a wine-producing Italian village must hide a million bottles of wine from the Germans. #4. TWELVE O’CLOCK HIGH (1949). Starring Gregory Peck, this film is often used in MBA courses (google it). Constantino Salios taught a course at Biola University’s Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership program in 2007 and invited me to join the class for this powerful film. #5. IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON (2007). Memorable Line: “And of course at that time, the Atlas boosters were blowing up every other day down at Cape Canaveral. And it looked like a very, you know, a good way to have a short career.” (Jim Lovell) #6. SESAME STREET: ERNIE PUTS DOWN THE DUCKIE (2003). Memorable Line: “Put down the duckie if you wanna play the saxophone.” #7. OUR DAILY BREAD (1934). Memorable line: “Ya gonna follow me or quit like yellow dogs?” (NYT: “One of the 10 best films of 1934.”) #8. MAKE YOUR BED (2014). Memorable Line: “If you want to change the world, start singing when you’re up to your neck in mud.”   CLICK HERE FOR BOOKS BY JOHN        New AI Podcast: Miracle on a Bus!  Click here to listen to the AI-generated podcasters (13 minutes, 28 seconds) who comment on the stunning “orange” story recently featured on the God Reports website, “Retired Church Secretary’s Miracle on a Bus.” (Read the article.) For more podcasts, click here. Note: This is the NEW location for John Pearson's Buckets Blog. Slowly (!), the previous 650+ blogs posted (between 2006 and 2025) will gradually populate this blogsite, along with new book reviews each month. Your City Needs a Mary Henry! Every major city in the nation needs an author like Mary Henry to write 50 or more tributes to the “Black People Whose Names Grace [Our City’s] Sites.” Read why in my review of Tributes: Black People Whose Names Grace Seattle Sites, by Mary T. Henry. (Note: She wrote this at age 99 and is now 101!) For more book reviews, visit the Pails in Comparison Blog.