[T]he stakes are high, the competition is tight, the communication is confrontational at best, past injustices are fresh in many people’s minds, and palpable fears exist about the second and third order effects of change.

Season 6, Episode 4 — Click here to download the transcript

I now complete the first half of this series by coming full circle into how systemic social problems persist — through a combination of interpersonal and structural factors that favor those with the ability to set the rules of competition. But there is one more factor to consider, how to appreciate and measure the outcome — what does it mean to win? I alluded to this in Part 2, that the sense of winning is very limited. Why? I think it is in part because our sense of winning is tied to the attainment of social capital, not what one does with it. In other words, it’s all about the wedding, not married life thereafter.

I believe this sense of what it means to win creates unrealistic expectations and a desire to use one’s abilities to set the rules toward limiting rather than expanding competition. In the present environment, this may mean that resolving old injustices may potentially cause others to become more prominent — and I give a list in this episode of almost a dozen factors that fall in this category, many of which are at least somewhat correlated with the protected classes. This, I believe, contributes to the sense that the “system” is rigged. It may also help explain why fixing the problem is so difficult.

This episode finishes my explanation of the problem. The remaining half of the series will offer what I believe to be the potential set of solutions.

Works Referenced:

Talking About Organizations Podcast, Episode 49, “Engineered Culture and Normative Control – Gideon Kunda“