Implicit vs. Explicit Approach to Diversity & Inclusion (or whatever you want to call it these days)
Since the murder of George Floyd, the sustained racial justice movement that continuously follows, and now the death of RBG, organizations are realizing the need for Diversity and Inclusion practices. We need to use this moment, this energy to continuously push organizations to do the difficult work to make impactful changes that enable marginalized communities. But it is not just about "offering a hand", it is also about organizations recognizing the advantages that come with effectively implementing D&I approaches. And research shows this actually true and why I use many D&I strategies in my non D&I project.
However, I do not consider myself a D&I practitioner. I have many colleagues who are experts in D&I field and I genuinely admire the work they do (and collaborate or refer for this type of work). I'm a believer in D&I but let's be honest its a loaded term (unfortunately). Thus, in order to sustain a movement dedicated to equity and justice, the explicit D&I work needs to also be balanced with an implicit approach - and this is where my consulting style comes into play.
Just because I don't lead implicit bias workshops or use the words D&I in my consulting practices, doesn't mean D&I isn't at the heart of my work. Instead, I use D&I concepts as a lens, a muscle that I activate. For example:
when thinking about organizational design, understanding decision rights versus titles ALSO within the context of race, gender, age, religion, socioeconomic class, sexual orientation, ethnicity and ableism. Based on this, how might the design of the organizations be impacting perceived fairness and thus employee engagement?
when I design and facilitate team onboarding sessions of a cross-functional team (that are homogenous), I'm inspired by the inclusion equation (uniqueness +belonging). This means I focus on enabling the team's understanding that individuals' unique skills and thinking styles are a resource while driving inclusive language and values by cultivating cooperative goals or foundational principles that the team operates under.
Lastly, when I work on culture projects, I coach and advise leaders to understand the difference between assimilation and integration of new members starting with the topic of working styles.
In future blog posts, I will be using my D&I muscle because it makes me a better practitioner for my "non D&I" projects.
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