The country is talking about race and racism in a way that many have never before experienced in their careers. Organizations are beginning to develop, review or refresh their diversity plans in response, but don’t want to appear as if they are reacting to the broader national conversation. For many, this was something that was in process already; for others, it’s altogether new. Some believe that the negative perception of being reactive is worse than doing nothing at all. This is the first step in taking a stand in support of homogeneity.
It’s important to understand that a homogeneous organization is not necessarily bad. I regularly try to scrub judgements based on perception from my language. Judgements like, “good” or “bad” often lead to deep emotions and powerful yet unproductive disagreements. My point here in highlighting homogeneity is this: If the goal is to promote or improve efforts around diversity and inclusion, taking a stand toward homogeneity is counterproductive.
Ph.D. psychologist and organizational development executive Randy Currier once shared, “We promote what we tolerate.” At the time he uttered this nugget of wisdom, the most pressing thing in his organization was gossip in the breakroom. As times have progressed, the wisdom of his words has become increasingly profound. As organizational leaders learn of the realistic possibility of inequity within their organizations or embedded in organizational policies, procedures or practices, any step of inaction is a step in support of inequity.