I don’t watch much TV at all, which means I’ll routinely miss out on moments like this. This found its way into my Twitter timeline yesterday and I’ve been cracking up ever since.

But do you know what I really love about this clip? No, no, it’s not that blondie gets fired in the end or that the West Indian lady had a ‘moment’ listening to Anna’s pathetic defense and rolled her eyes in the boardroom – haha! No. It’s the fact that Anna (blondie) defensively, yet eloquently, illustrated her privilege as a white person in corporate America, line-by-line. She was soooo “into her book” while she was meant to be doing market research at the mall that she “didn’t notice” all the Hispanic people she would have to market her product to, and so, failed to hire Spanish speakers to bridge the communication gap. Really, Anna?

This is a clear case of the cat constantly guessing at when the mice will come out, while the mice have the cat’s eating, sleeping, and hunting schedule down to the T (they probably even pass out pamphlets to new mice coming through). What does the cat care? His survival doesn’t depend on knowing much about the mice at all. He’s got a lap to sleep on, and a warm bowl of Meow Mix. But I digress…

• Diversity Fail #1 – The business-mogul-in-training failed to “notice” the Hispanic population that drove her target market segment
• Diversity Fail #2 – When she finally did notice that the mall was full of Spanish speakers, she did nothing… I daresay she hoped that it wouldn’t matter / affect the team’s bottom line at all
• Diversity Fail #3 – *And this is my biggest petpeeve* When it became apparent that the team’s cultural incompetence  and lack of Spanish language skills was affecting the business, they of course called on the two Spanish-speaking people of color to save the day. Reactive diversity tactics are NEVER successful.
• Diversity Fail #4 – During the boardroom recap with Donald, the poor white girl defended herself ; both her words and tone seemed to suggest somehow that her professionalism? colorblindness? (I don’t know what she was getting at) angelic innocent nature that doesn’t see brown people? was actually a good thing even if it meant failure to sell their product.
• Diversity Fail #5 – She didn’t own her mistakes, and so I’m assuming she didn’t learn anything from this experience. (I just hope that her elimination on the account of Diversity Fails doesn’t turn her to the dark side, if you know what I mean)

I’ve always been a fan of Donald Trump. He’s a smart no-nonsense businessman, and he knows his stuff. The fact that he highlights the importance of diversity from a strategic planning standpoint is not only extremely influential to millennial professionals of all cultural backgrounds (white people especially), but it’s also music to my ears since I’m constantly listening to the chime of  “good will” corporate politics.

Often enough, people dismiss diversity initiatives as “fluff” – good to have, but not required. But, in this example, that notion is nipped in the bud. It’s simple, really; the world is changing – has already changed – and our outreach initiatives, marketing strategy, branding etc, need to keep up with the social climate. It’s just good business practice.