August 5th, 2010
Words matter. A lot.
“Oh we are inclusive Joe, we are all over the diversity thing.”
This is a line from a conversation that I had recently with a business leader and a good example of asking the wrong question and / or not having an actual logical foundation to support our language. Inclusion is not a yes/no, do/don’t thing. The question is not are you inclusive, but rather how inclusive are you…and why? Who gets in and who does not get in…and have you made those decisions intentionally and deliberately? These are the questions that matter regarding inclusion.
There are three characteristics that define inclusion for me…
primary: Inclusion is our capacity to include difference.
secondary: Inclusion is our capacity to utilize the resources that we have access to.
tertiary: Inclusion is our capacity to generate solutions.
All social groups are conformist and exclusive by nature…that is what makes them a “group.” Every group draw an invisible line around it that splits the universe in two…some people can get in, some people cannot. Some are more conformist and exclusive than others, but all families, communities, countries and organizations are to some extent defined by who belongs and who does not.
Organizations often make very intentional and deliberate decisions about who cannot be included…for example some organizations will not hire people that have a criminal background. Some organizations do not accept employees that have visible tattoos or piercings. Some organizations will not hire people that do not have a high school diploma or a college degree or speak a certain language. All organizations exclude more than they include.
Anytime a business leader rattles off that their organization is inclusive, it is an indicator to me that they might be faking the funk. They are either just saying what they know they are supposed to be saying about inclusion, and / or they just have no real understanding of the concept…there is no underlying logic.
The keys with inclusion are to:
- Have some awareness of how inclusive you are (who gets in, who does not get in)…with supporting evidence.
- Be able to evaluate if your ability to include difference is appropriate for your organization…or it there is room for improvement.
The supporting evidence is very important, because often times organizations have intentions of being more inclusive than they actually are. If there is no actual evidence of inclusion, there is a good chance that you are not as inclusive as you think you are. We like to say that anyone can grow up and be elected president in this country…but until recently the evidence suggested that you actually had to be a white male to be elected president. If you truly want to be inclusive, but there are groups missing from your workforce or from your leadership, there may be some unintentional barriers in place that you are not aware of…go investigate.
So, as you consider your team, your organization, your community…
How inclusive are you?
What is the evidence of that?
Is there room for progress?
Be good to each other.