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November
2007
EDITOR’S COLUMN:
EDUCATION OVER THE LAW
I was listening to a great NPR interview recently discussing Plato’s Republic. One of the points made was that Plato always emphasized education over the law. My experience as an attorney and an advisor in the area of risk management tells me Plato was “right on.” Let me give a few examples:
- As a result of the Anita Hill hearings, sexual harassment claims took off in this country. Many men and women became aware of the law. Although knowledge of the law is an important part of the prevention strategy, the laws were designed to remedy claims, less so than to prevent them. Prevention comes through education. What remains lacking is an education on how to do a better job as men and women, people of different races and nationalities, and working with those who have disabilities, medical problems, and other challenges.
- In every case I’ve ever handled regarding sex discrimination or sexual harassment, the company knew the basics of the law. You would have to have lived in a black hole for the past 10 years not to. And yet, the companies’ understanding of the law did not help them to prevent the claim. What they lacked was an awareness, a strategy, an education. The education I gained so I could help in this area came from two main sources: John Grey, author of Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, and Deborah Tannen, author of Talking from 9 to 5: Women and Men in the Workplace.
- In the Diversity and Discrimination Training Module on HR That Works, one of the things I teach is that there are four levels of dealing with each other: Fear, tolerance, acceptance, and unconditional love. The law essentially mandates tolerance. Thou shall do no harm because someone is different. I believe it is a mistake to think we can legislate acceptance. Special interest groups try to push that agenda with great resistance every time. The only path toward acceptance is education.
One of my favorite thinkers, Dr. Deming, once stated that “education is the greatest form of leverage.” In the end, it will be education and not legislation that will make us more accepting and loving of our co-workers.
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