Ruffled Feathers — An Analysis
Nabeel Jaitapker
Seton Hall University
MASCL Comm 8523
March 4, 2011

Hateley and Schmidt’s (2008) Ruffled Feathers story which showcases issues discussed by penguin executives, is an accurate representation of how leadership teams behave when facing a change in diversity. The “Very Important Penguins” team realizes its mistake at the story’s conclusion, of not including diverse individuals in its conversation while discussing the subject of diversity. The use of metaphors in the story definitely raised my awareness, and the following is my analysis of the story and how it compares to my professional experience.

UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY
The arrival of new birds labeled as “exotic” or “different” and their impact on existing culture, is what causes the penguins to immediately call for a review (Hateley & Schmidt, 2008). They groan about how the new birds go about their daily business, and even the penguins that are accepting of the new birds, are intimidated by the notion of interacting with the new additions.
I experienced this first hand as a manager at Apple, Inc. where I came into a leadership role at 27, and was working directly with other leaders who averaged 40 years of age. Needless to say, it was quite an educational experience for all parties involved. While most talked about how things were done a certain way since they had been there, I always questioned why it was done that way and how we could be more efficient using the resources at hand. I also felt like my career was on a major upswing and that the others had already peaked career wise and were growing complacent.
There were also several instances where the concerning parties made inaccurate assumptions about one another. For instance, I always assumed that other managers felt uncomfortable learning about Apple products that were being released.