Joe Gerstandt | keynote speaker, freedom fighter, freak-flag flier

My last post did some foundational work toward building a framework of inclusion. I defined inclusion as “the act of including additional difference in a group or process.” I went on to say that inclusion is:

•  activist (it is not something you are or are not, it is something that you do)
• generative (it increases the potential or the range of possible outcomes for the group)
• dialogic (it involves further diffusion or balancing of power)

There is one other characteristic of inclusion that I want to touch on before moving on to identify some of the key levers toward inclusion.

Inclusion is also aspirational.

A lot of organizations make D&I efforts for the wrong reasons. They start doing stuff because somebody wants them to, or because they think someone wants to, or because they think they have to, or because it seems like the right thing to do. They want to do the right thing, but they simply do not understand how D&I efforts actually generate value. Just like being sloppy with language, this compromises our ability to deliver real outcomes. It leads us to do possibly very good things driven by possibly very good intentions, but it is not built toward a specific outcome.

What new or different outcome are you hoping to deliver?

This is the sentence that a D&I investment needs to be able to complete:

We are doing _________ (the action we are taking) to further include __________ (what kind of difference is being included) in _____________ (what group or process you are bringing this difference to) to deliver __________ (what kind of outcome is being pursued).

Clarity of aspiration allows you to have some alignment. It enables you to choose the right efforts, apply the right amount of resources and look at the right indicators. There has got to be some alignment in place—there has got to be some real clarity as to what you are doing, why you are doing it and how you will do it. That clarity is often missing from D&I efforts. This is why D&I efforts are so susceptible to being unplugged when leadership changes or when budgets get tight.

Want to bring more People of Color into your organization? Great. Why? Want to reduce turnover among female employees? Awesome. Why? Want to put all of your employees through training, want to develop a diversity council or start some employee resource groups? Super. Why? There are strong cases to be made for all of these things, but the ability to answer the why question in a clear, concise and consistent way is often missing.

So, what are you trying to accomplish and why?

Be good to each other.