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

There is more and more good writing about organizational diversity and inclusion work showing up on-line all the time. A lot of this writing is done by the usual suspects, folks that are and have been actively involved in doing this work. The Winters Group, for example, consistently shares thoughtful and actionable information on their blog. I am also really appreciating the diversity & inclusion writing being done and shared by people from other fields; researchers, academics, leadership and organizational development practitioners, futurists, neuroscientists, social psychologists, innovation thinkers, etc.

If I have the time and the energy, I try to jump in and participate in some of the conversation that bubbles up around this writing, especially if I feel that I can share some research, an example or an experience that I think is relevant. I really like to share research, because I continue to catch people mumbling stuff like “I’m all for diversity, but the business case is still really fuzzy,” and “I’m all for diversity, but does it really drive innovation?”

Pro-tip: If every single time you say I’m all for diversity its followed with a but…, you are not really all for diversity and it is kind of obvious to the rest of us. Skip the gift wrapping and make your point, we have work to do.

I collect a lot of research related to diversity and inclusion, much of it from journals. Journal of Workplace Learning, International Journal of Conflict Management, Management Decision, Leadership and Management, Advances in Group Process, Advances in Organizational Psychology, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, and others are wonderful sources of new research related to diversity and inclusion. Not crazy about the cost, but the research is really indispensable.

When I do share something from a study, there is always someone quick to jump in and say “great research, but remember this is a really unique situation so this is only truly relevant to certain kinds of organizations, we cannot assume that this really applies to organizations in general…not every organization needs to be serious about diversity.”

There is a valid point in here, but it is wrapped in a certain amount of B.S. Organizations are different in many ways, but I only really here this point being made when the issues being discussed are diversity related. I do not hear the same argument being made when we are talking about recruiting, retention, engagement, leadership and similar topics, in those conversations we should all just do what Zappos and Google do because they are amaaaaaaazing.

But beyond that.

There truly is only one situation where diversity actually matters. Diversity only matters when humans are involved, that’s it. If there are no humans inside of, around or involved in your organization…well, then do not worry about diversity. You can gleefully and joyfully disregard it.

Organizations do come in all shapes, sizes and flavors. They operate in different markets, have different cultures and histories. Multicultural marketing or a vendor diversity program might not be right for your organization. Diversity recruiting, or employee resource groups might not be a part of the mix for your organization. The tactical details are going to (or should) vary wildly from one organization to another. But if there are human beings in or around your organization…diversity is at play.

It is present in every single interaction involving employees, customers, vendors and other stakeholders…so, it’s a pretty big deal. But only when humans are involved.

Be good to each other.