Tools and Guidance that OBM can Provide in the Service of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
DOUGLAS A. JOHNSON, Eunju Choi, Juan A. Lopez, and Merrilyn Akpapuna
Western Michigan University
June 19, 2021
Inaugural Black Applied Behavior Analysts Conference
Correspondence: behavioranalyst@gmail.com

Slide
1Tools and Guidance that OBM can Provide inthe Service of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Douglas A. Johnson, Eunju Choi,
Juan A. Lopez, and Merrilyn Yeboah
Western Michigan University

Slide2•Who am I and•Relevance of Instructional Designand Organizational Behavior
Management to training new waysof behaving and enacting systemicchangeBoth business and educationalorganizations

why am I talking?

•Slide3•#wecare#pleasebuystuff#welikemoney

Both customers and employeesdemanding more thanperformative allyship
Not enough to claim to beprogressive; need to examine own
oppressive policies, practices, andprocedures

Tools and Guidance that OBM can Provide in the Service of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
DOUGLAS A. JOHNSON, Eunju Choi, Juan A. Lopez, and Merrilyn Akpapuna
Western Michigan University
June 19, 2021
Inaugural Black Applied Behavior Analysts Conference
Correspondence: behavioranalyst@gmail.com

Slide
4

The vague uselessness of
too many value andmission statements

Slide5•Hundreds of hours spent crafting
value and mission statements thatall say the same vague values tothe point that CEOs cannot
distinguish their statements fromthe statements of vastly different
organizations•Gilbert: “Missions that define thebasic purpose of institutions andsubcultures, and require programsof action” (Gilbert, 1996, p. 118).
Programs of actions implies adelegation of roles andresponsibilities. Duties andSupplies come next.
If these steps aren’t aligned, youwill get all talk or a committee thatspins its wheels.
Easily forgotten, despite the factcommittees will spend
weeks/months on crafting amessage with just the rightwording, yet no action plan, noroles, no responsibilities, noduties, and most critically, nosupplies•“Missions…require programs of action”••

Slide6•Talk
is cheap••

Talk istiresome••

The outcome without a plan ofaction
Diversity and multiculturalism
efforts couched in vague language
Does not easily lend itself topinpointed behaviors or resultsthat can be achieved by businessleaders, researchers, orpractitioners.
In the end, we just talk
Talk alone loses trustTools and Guidance that OBM can Provide in the Service of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
DOUGLAS A. JOHNSON, Eunju Choi, Juan A. Lopez, and Merrilyn Akpapuna
Western Michigan University
June 19, 2021
Inaugural Black Applied Behavior Analysts Conference
Correspondence: behavioranalyst@gmail.com

Slide7•

Daniels: “Trust is measured
behaviorally by the correlation
between antecedents andconsequences. In other words,
those who always do what they
say are trusted; those who don’t
are not trusted.”•Two threats: Let’s find the one
thing that will solve everything andeverything needs to be solved(ONE vs. ALL problems)
Gilbert’s PIP: The ratio of
exemplar’s performance to typicalperformance, the PIP (potential forimproving performance)
Or low hanging fruit (behavioralmomentum)
Or finally, what do you have any
control over? If we don’t have any
control over an issue then weshouldn’t be trying to focus on it.

The correlation between
antecedents and consequencesSlide8
When inequity is
everywhere, how do you
decide what to target?

••
•

Slide
9

What does justice look like and how
do you know when you’ve arrived?
(or at least, going inthe right direction)

••

•
•

Borrow a page from PerformanceBased Instruction (Brethower,Smalley, and Mager):
Where are we going? (GOAL)
Mission statements andexemplars—if we can’t realisticallyarrive, then what are sub-goals wecan arrive at
How shall we get there?
(PROCESS)
How will we know we’ve arrived?
(MEASURES)

Tools and Guidance that OBM can Provide in the Service of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
DOUGLAS A. JOHNSON, Eunju Choi, Juan A. Lopez, and Merrilyn Akpapuna
Western Michigan University
June 19, 2021
Inaugural Black Applied Behavior Analysts Conference
Correspondence: behavioranalyst@gmail.com•Slide10•

Getting everyone on

the same page•

Slide
11

Map out the process and learn the lanes•••••

Slide12•You cannot build
the process alone

Behavioral view of semantics:
Identifying the stimulus classes
that control our tacts
What features evoke labels suchas:o That place is progressiveo That organization issupportiveo That person is an allyo This is a diverse workplaceo This is NOT a diverseworkplace
Progressive, supportive, ally,
diverse are all stimulus classes
with multiple attributes
Process mapping toolYour traditional org hierarchy does
NOT show how policies andprocedures get implemented
Then make sure all the players areaccounted for
Who is involved in the:o Admissions process?
o Financial support?
o Hiring and retention?

As a sole individual, you arealmost guaranteed to lose.
Networks will build more change
than individuals; bring others into
your community and extend
yourself into other communities

Tools and Guidance that OBM can Provide in the Service of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
DOUGLAS A. JOHNSON, Eunju Choi, Juan A. Lopez, and Merrilyn Akpapuna
Western Michigan University
June 19, 2021
Inaugural Black Applied Behavior Analysts Conference
Correspondence: behavioranalyst@gmail.com

Slide13•
Selling others
on joining up:
Lessons learned frombehavior-based safety•••••

Slide14•

As you map theprocess out anddevelop plans foraction, you’ll find theobstacles fast•••Slide15•

The lonely and hostile environment

Example of noble and less-thannoble motivations: The old rivalry
between safety and productivity
If noble motivations were enough,we probably wouldn’t have any
problems to solve
Whoever is benefitting from thestatus quo is your enemy ofchange
You have to either work aroundthem or demonstrate how they can
get the same/similar reinforcers
under a new system
For example, the marketability ofdiverse talent
Executive diversity for productinnovation

If it wasn’t already clear to you,you’ll soon find out the systemicand institutionalized racism isn’t
just a meaningless abstraction ormeaningless phrase.
Gatekeeping throughout history
Recent legal changes that have
led to a persistent decline in
BIPOC enrollment at major
universities and the perpetuationof inequity.

Looking at the lack of social
contingencies for those breaking
through the barriers
How to measure and remedy?

Tools and Guidance that OBM can Provide in the Service of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
DOUGLAS A. JOHNSON, Eunju Choi, Juan A. Lopez, and Merrilyn Akpapuna
Western Michigan University
June 19, 2021
Inaugural Black Applied Behavior Analysts Conference
Correspondence: behavioranalyst@gmail.com•Slide16••
Measurement is important,but measurement alone isa useless antecedent

Slide17•

Super system map forconceptualizing and analyzing
feedback loops••

One-shot workshops
Antiracist training by themselves
do very little to change actual daily
workplace behavior andinteractions
Not surprising for OBM, for weknow that training alone rarely
solves most organizational
concerns
Short-term educational
interventions in general do notchange people.

Creating insight through feedback
Total Performance SystemProcessing SystemMyth: What gets measured gets
done
Daniels: “Too many people inbusiness think that measuring aproblem is tantamount to solving it”
What is essential that we combine
measurement with action

Receiving System

Internal feedback
External feedback

Goal Statement

Slide18•

A note on mosttraining “solutions”•Tools and Guidance that OBM can Provide in the Service of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
DOUGLAS A. JOHNSON, Eunju Choi, Juan A. Lopez, and Merrilyn Akpapuna
Western Michigan University
June 19, 2021
Inaugural Black Applied Behavior Analysts Conference
Correspondence: behavioranalyst@gmail.com

Slide19•

Slide20•••

Building in
Guided Observation,Guided Practice, andDemonstration ofMastery•••

Slide21

Building in
Guided Observation,
Guided Practice, andDemonstration ofMastery••Semantics not just for goals, butalso for training concepts
Creating examples andnonexamples of microaggression,tribal membership, etc.

Performance-Based Instruction:
Guided Observation (most stophere)
Guided PracticeDemonstration of Mastery (fluency,
not just accuracy)

Let me emphasize a critical aspectof any good OBM training
approachLinking training to business results
Getting maintenance throughout
the system

Tools and Guidance that OBM can Provide in the Service of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
DOUGLAS A. JOHNSON, Eunju Choi, Juan A. Lopez, and Merrilyn Akpapuna
Western Michigan University
June 19, 2021
Inaugural Black Applied Behavior Analysts Conference
Correspondence: behavioranalyst@gmail.com•Slide22

The training system is pointless is
we don’t address the receiving system(i.e., what do people live with day to day)•_+ +Reinforcing

DesiredBehavior__ __ _ _++++ ++Punishing

Reinforcing__

Punishing

Undesired
Behavior••••Slide23Managing
the white spaces…
• “If you put a good performer against abad system, the system will win almost
every time.”••

Do you get compensation,
recognition, or promotion fordiversity or antiracist initiatives?
Or is all the compensation,
recognition, or promotion forcompeting activities that may
displace diversity or antiracist
initiatives? (more publications,more clients, more billable hours,
more everything else)
Will diversity and antiracist be outof your own hide and cost youprofessionally (at minimum interms of time and opportunities)?
How do we provide reinforcers fordiversity efforts?
Are the consequences positive,immediate, sizeable, certain, andspecific to the individual?
Or are the consequences
negative, delayed, small,uncertain, and specific to theorganization?
Rummler and Brache: “if you pit agood performer against a badsystem, the system will win almost
every time”
Potentially discouraging!

Tools and Guidance that OBM can Provide in the Service of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
DOUGLAS A. JOHNSON, Eunju Choi, Juan A. Lopez, and Merrilyn Akpapuna
Western Michigan University
June 19, 2021
Inaugural Black Applied Behavior Analysts Conference
Correspondence: behavioranalyst@gmail.com

Slide
24

Managingthe white spaces…

••• “We spend too much of our time
‘fixing’ people who are not broken, andnot enough time fixing organization
systems that are broken.”• “We are performance improvementpractitioners.”

••
•
•

Slide
25

Thank you!
behavioranalyst@gmail.com

Douglas A. Johnson,
Eunju Choi,
Juan A. Lopez,and Merrilyn Yeboah
Western Michigan University

Be don’t forget what else they said
Rummler and Brache (very nextlines): we need to spend our “timefixing organization systems thatare broken” and their career wasdedicated to outlining tools toaccomplish such feats.
Not just OBMers, if you are abehavior analyst, then you should
understand behavior change
You are a specialist in changing
the world“We are performance improvementpractitioners”
We all have something tocontribute