Learning from the BBC’s ‘Ludwig’

Last month, a new comedic crime series was released on BBC here in the UK, entitled Ludwig. Newspaper articles are positive about the plot and the acting, but as surprising as it might seem, this TV show also holds a number of useful ideas that we can employ in the workplace.
First of all, what is Ludwig? The brainchild, so to speak, of brainy actor-writer David Mitchell (from Peep Show and Would I Lie to You? among other shows), Ludwig is about a man, John, who is a solitary type who works as a puzzle-setter (he publishes his work under the name of Ludwig, inspired by Beethoven). John, it turns out, has an identical twin brother, James, a detective with the police. After a particularly tricky case, James disappears, and his wife, Lucy, and son, Henry, enlist John to try to figure out what happened. This involves John unwillingly pretending to be his brother, going to work at the police station and solving crimes while attempting to get access to files that might reveal information about James, what he was working on and where he might be. So far, so silly.

But within this somewhat intricate plot with all its complications – who knew there were murders on a daily basis in the quiet, academic city of Cambridge? – there are many important lessons about challenging ourselves as a way of developing and growing, and about the use of puzzles.

Despite being identical twins and despite Lucy’s help in giving John information about James, John can’t quite be James, for obvious reasons. He is himself acting as James, and there are a number of small differences between the two men, which, strangely, no one really seems to notice, despite the fact that John/James is working in, of all places, the police force, where you’d think that people are trained to be observant. Besides their natural variations, John also can’t quite bring himself to completely subsume himself to his role; for instance, he (sensibly!) needs to have a pen or two in his breast pocket, which his brother would never have done, given the nerdiness of the look. Lucy frets about this, but actually, John, in the role of James, gets praised for these small changes. People who knew James believe that this is James and that he’s made a few adaptations to his look, and they like it. This shows us that it’s okay to not stay the same, even if we assume that that’s what other people want from us. Sometimes people might object to the changes, but others will be neutral about them, or even positive, and ultimately, we have to be true to ourselves. John likes the compliments he receives, but more than that, he learns that people can handle change.

Written by B.J Woodstein, PhD

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Margolles Fourth Plinth and Trans Inclusion

 

Last month saw the unveiling of the fourth plinth, the public art commission ‘Mil Veces un Instante (A Thousand Times in an Instant)’ by Mexican artist Teresa Margolles. The fourth plinth which began in 1994 sees a leading artist make a public sculpture, held in the space for two years. Since its inception in 1994, there have been 15 different sculptures occupying the plinth, which has opened up a conversation with Britain’s past, present and future histories. Made for public consumption it is a key platform for showcasing and celebrating the importance of art in advocating key debates of our time and showing us new ways of seeing.

The new work unveiled on the 18th of September 2024 by Margolles has been no different. It sees a large sculpture of 726 cast faces of trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people. The label on the plinth itself, recalls the murder of Karla a transgender woman found dead in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico and states that the work is made in honour of Karla and the other trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people, who have faced violence and abuse on the grounds of their identity. The sculpture is defined as being collectively made in London, Ciudad Juárez, and Mexico City between 2021 – 2024.

This is a striking piece of work, which stands at 2.5m tall and weighs 3.3 tonnes. Once scanning the QR Code the visitor can find out more information about the piece and how it was created. You learn that each sitter was asked to choose a piece of music or to make a playlist that they could listen to, whilst sitting through the plaster cast process. The whole appointment with each sitter, the artist and the artists assistant, took between 1–1.5hrs and of that, 30 minutes were used for the casting. With such a time encompassing and laboursome piece, what we are witness to, is the sensitive and vulnerable display of faces that are then placed on X shaped fixers, which we are told have been inspired by the form of a ‘Tzompantli’, an Aztec skull rack. We are left with the inside of the casts facing us, as the front of the faces are up against a metal frame, which cannot not be seen.

 

Written by Dr Ope Lori, PhD

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PILAA Wins UK Enterprise Awards

 

We are delighted that PILAA has won the award, Best EDI Specialist Professional Services Consultancy 2024, in SME News seventh annual UK Enterprise Awards.

This is a fantastic achievement, that would not be possible without the strong commitment and work ethic from our team, who continuously strive to always do better in the world of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

We would like to thank our clients and partners, where without them this work, recognition and mutual learning would not be possible.

We congratulate everyone who have made it possible, and we look forward to many more success stories as we move through the years.

Stay tuned for more exciting news to come!

 

Dr. Ope Lori, Founder & CEO 

Next in Line: Gender roles, values and worth

Last month we saw the landmark ruling in favour of more than 3,500 employees, who had taken their employer Next, the multinational clothing, footwear and home products retailer, to an employment tribunal, over a six-year battle for equal pay. The case found that staff who worked in the stores, predominantly women, were paid less than warehouse operatives, who were predominantly men. The argument made by the employer, was that the women were paid less in accordance with the ‘market rate’, where warehouse workers are paid more than retail workers, to reflect the labour market.

Next employee Helen Scarsbrook told the press:

“Anyone who works in retail knows that it is a physically and emotionally tough job.”
“We do lots of heavy lifting, the same as the men do in the warehouse. We lift the same boxes they lift.” (1)

And here in lies part of the rub. The image of either men or women working in the warehouse or in the stores respectively, is part of an age-old problem that highlights the difference between stereotypical assumptions on gender roles and the actual lived reality, which we’ll come back to later. It is also a matter of perception, and how we have been conditioned to see such roles and give value to them, based on inherent gender norms. However, the ruling panel stated that this was not the case, and that the difference of pay allocation was purely financial. They said that “direct discrimination” in relation to gender was not at play, and that “there was no conscious or sub-conscious gender influence in the way Next set pay rates” (2). Despite this ruling, in this article we suggest otherwise.

What we are seeing are the effects of social conditioning, and how we have been conditioned to see sex, gender and associated gender roles. They are so engrained that that they become the norm. As the employer stated, this is the first ruling of its kind, which doesn’t mean that it wasn’t an issue before, but that this is the first time that a microscope has been held up to the situation. As we know with the way microscopes work, sometimes you have to adjust the wheel to position the lens and bring into focus what was hidden before.

It’s about choosing to see things differently, hence why the tribunal also stated that the employer hadn’t given enough evidence to show that the lower pay discrepancy, wasn’t due to gender-based discrimination. It was inconclusive. No evidence to prove it and similarly, non to disprove it. I say choose to see things differently, because in order to address the constant battle of awarding equal pay to women and men, we need to actively engage and reflect on our decision-making processes. This is at the heart of mitigating unconscious bias. In fact, we suggest that because gender bias is so engrained in the way that women are seen as the lesser sex, it becomes unthinkable, that such a case could be directly related to gender discrimination.

 

Written by Dr Ope Lori, PhD

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