Cultural competency has been consuming most of my thinking capacity and I find it captivating. When I first heard of my new project, I wondered how I would develop an online course to teach how to be competent in culture. What exactly does that look like? After learning of the expectations, it was clear that no one is expected to become competent. No, we are trying to change sensitivity towards others. That's BIG!

I met a gentleman, David Livermore, several summers ago during a seminar he held at our church. His book, Leading with Cultural Intelligence helped me learn how sensitivity is changed in small degrees. Inspiring.

Learning about world view, health literacy and medical interpreters has opened my eyes to new ideas. One of the concepts a colleague shared with me was the idea of an "invisible backpack" and how being born into privilege (no matter what kind) keeps you from seeing it as a privilege and it becomes a right.

In addition to the rich teaching material, I'm able to experiment with another idea from my favorite learning blogger, Cathy Moore. In her article titled "Throw them in the deep end" She explains that the common approach to online learning is to carefully show learners how to do something and only then they can be allowed to practice doing it. She believes if you just throw them in the deep end, frustration and cognitive overload and squashed self-esteem will supposedly inhibit their learning.

However, several studies suggest that when we first challenge learners and then give them instruction, we can improve their ability to apply and extend their new knowledge. They could more effectively apply what they've learning to their job and to new situations.

So, this is my goal...use productive failure to teach people how to apply cultural competency sensitivity at work.