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

There is a company that invites me in for a song and dance every year or two. Same story every time… they have grown tired or bored or disappointed with their current diversity efforts and are ready to take things to the next level. They keep getting referred to me, and I keep going in   [Read More…]

“Men are alike in their promises. It is only in their deeds that they differ.” – Moliere I continue to wrestle with this tension between principles and compromise. I think it is a false dichotomy as compromise itself is a principle, but I think that there is some good conversation to be had around the   [Read More…]

Got some great responses from the last blog post regarding principles and compromise; and on a national level this seems to be something that we are really struggling with right now. I think the idea that you cannot be a person of principle and compromise is dangerous, I think that it invites unnecessary drama and   [Read More…]

I recently watched “The World According to Dick Cheney.” Interesting guy, interesting film. Something that struck me was a statement made by the former Vice President toward the end of the film. “If you’re a man of principle, compromise is a bit of a dirty word.” This belief (regardless of who holds it) seems reckless   [Read More…]

A moment of silence for straight white men, please. You have seen the headlines right? White guys are so 2011! It’s the end of men! Demographics are changing (which we have been talking about for a long, long time already), and it seems like I am starting to hear a lot of concern about bias   [Read More…]

A few of my favorite hilarious things that get said about diversity and inclusion: “Diversity is a scam.” This one is my favorite. I love the idea that diversity is something that we have just invented as a money-making scheme. Diversity (or difference) is a naturally occurring phenomena. Unlike things that we have actually invented   [Read More…]

The fourth post in a series. Your organizational chart matters. A little. In a lot of ways it does not. Ideas, information, trust, influence, opportunity and other resources move through networks of relationships without necessarily adhering to what the org chart says. Social network analysis tools now allow us to make the invisible visible so   [Read More…]

The third in a series. You have probably heard the phrase: “A person’s eyes are the window to their soul.” I have another version: “How an organization makes decisions is a window into its culture.” How does your organization make decisions? How do you deal with disagreement? “We simply decide without thinking much about the   [Read More…]

The second post in my series on hacking your culture. Ask ten random peers in your organization the following questions: 1.)    What is diversity? 2.)    How is it valuable for your organization? 3.)    What is our organization doing to capture that value? 4.)    What is expected of you as an individual? 5.)    What is inclusion?   [Read More…]

Where to start, where to go from here, and what to do next? These are all questions that diversity and inclusion advocates care greatly about (as well as advocates for innovation, social media etc.), and they are all things that can really vary from one organization to another. Context matters. Having real understanding of the   [Read More…]