We write weekly on the issues that are top of mind for us as we do the work of driving equity, shifting culture and co-creating inclusion with our clients. To receive these posts via email, join our free weekly email series, Self-coaching for DEI advocates and leaders.
I had a whole different blog post planned for today… and then the news broke. In fact, my 12 year old broke the news to us in the car as we driving home because his friends were texting him.
The 12 year olds are watching.
And yes it’s messy, and no America hasn’t been ready to elect a woman, let alone a woman of color… but we’d better get ready.
Read MoreSomething that often happens when leaders, white leaders in particular, “recognize their privilege” is that they react by concluding that what they need to do instead is step back, be quiet, listen to others, and let other lead.
While well-intentioned, the impact of this approach can also be harmful. When those who align with systemic and institutional power fail to use it, it leaves those who are less aligned with that power to do the work, often while feeling tokenized, unsupported, and under-resourced.
Read MoreEvery year at Co-Creating Inclusion, we take the month of August as a break from external meetings and facilitation in order to prioritize our own strategic planning, professional development and self-care. We do the same for the last week of every month (February, April, June, October and December). We also tried to hold Wednesdays and Fridays from 9am-2pm EDT as “slack and meeting free time” although we do make exceptions when needed.
Read MoreLeaders are often “visionaries” and “change makers” by definition. They have a vision for something that is different than currently exists, and they have the drive to make that vision a reality.
Not every leader is suited to driving change towards equity and inclusion however.
Read MoreA question that often comes up, especially from our non-profit clients, is on how to retain valuable BIPOC employees so they don’t leave for better paying opportunities elsewhere.
While race and class are not necessarily inextricably intertwined, the history in this country means that a huge racial wealth gap continues to be pervasive, and BIPOC folks, particularly Black people, face inter-generational systemic marginalization that means they are least likely to be able to afford being under-compensated.
What is an organization to do, particular a non-profit where funds might be tight all round?
Read MoreIn our work at CCI, we hear a lot from organizations who are very earnestly and firmly committed to DEI and racial justice as a concept but are lacking the commitment to it as a practice.
As with any decision, committing to it is only the first step. In fact, it shouldn’t even really be the first step if you don’t actually have any idea what you are committed to DOING.
Read MoreThe messy middle is… messy.
And it’s uncomfortable.
We’re generally not used to letting things sit unresolved. We are socialized to fix things. We are rewarded for fixing things. But sometimes, rushing in to fix things doesn’t actually fix things. Sometimes it is when we are in urgency or scarcity that we cause the most harm.
Read MoreI’ve had this blog post brewing in my head for a while, since before I read Ijeoma Oluo’s piece “We have the right to not be annoyed” where this passage hit home:
Y’all (the white people out of pocket in my comments and DMs) keep thinking that this is all for you.
The books, the talks, the work - all of it is for you. You are sure that I and others who write and speak on race wake up every day and think, “how can I help white people today?” I’m not being facetious. You really do view us, in our anti-racist work and in our very existence, as “the help.”
Oooof, yeah this hit home.
Read MoreWe know that feedback can be hard to hear.
It is perhaps one of the hardest things we ask leaders and others who align with power and privilege within their identities and their organizations to do when we do DEI work.
However, it’s the organizations that can work through the tough process of hearing difficult feedback that often make the most progress in shifting workplace culture to better serve their mission. We do a lot of scaffolding so leaders understand that feedback is a gift, even if you don’t like the wrapping paper, that it isn’t personal, that systems of oppression, although they manifest differently, show up in every organization, and that in order to change something, you first have to be able to name it.
Read MoreI have found it incredibly helpful to think of the four levels of oppression as the four levels of everything.
In particular, I’ve found it helpful to think of these levels as the four levels where we can have an impact and create change.
This doesn’t mean we should all necessarily be trying to work all four levels at once, although I do think we should try and consider all four levels at once.
However, one of the things that can be useful to figure out is where we personally are best suited to make the most impact.
Read MoreWhen I first started doing DEI consulting, I have to say I didn’t expect that so much of what we do would be about opening up spaces so our clients can gather feedback from across their staff.
However, it has proven to be one of the most valuable aspects of our work.
What we’ve realized is that we are hired to uncover the truths that may be painful for organizations to hear but that have the potential to be transformative if only they are open to it.
Read MoreLast week I wrote about my experiences with some IDEO design thinking courses and highly recommended them. However, one of our readers, Malla Haridat, very generously reached out to note that IDEO has had some serious conversations pop up around DEI that I should know about.
Yikes.
And sigh.
I have to admit I was not aware, and absolutely should have done my research, especially before making a recommendation. I regret that Malla had to reach out and let me know.
Read MoreDesign Thinking is an iterative process in which we seek to understand the user, challenge assumptions, and redefine problems in an attempt to identify alternative strategies and solutions that might not be instantly apparent with our initial level of understanding. At the same time, Design Thinking provides a solution-based approach to solving problems. It is a way of thinking and working as well as a collection of hands-on methods. - Interaction Design Foundation
Sounds like DEI to me!
Read MoreThe other day, a walk around the block turned into a trip to check out a new ice cream store in my neighborhood, The Social. Excited to check it out, I quickly though, hmmm, this seems an awful lot like a knock-off of Ample Hills Creamery, a local-turned-national ice cream sensation my family has been enjoying for years.
A sign on the wall shared the story of the company - the owners of The Social actually WERE the original founders of Ample Hills, but had to declare bankruptcy right before the pandemic.
I sat down to enjoy my ice-cream (Chocolate Fudge and Ooeyer and Gooeyer for those who might be curious) and to google on my phone... what the hell happened????!
Read MoreBetween the ongoing global pandemic and the Delta variant, the situation in Afghanistan, Hurricane Ida hitting Louisiana, as well as all of the usual horrors of the world, vacation feels like the last thing to be thinking about.
The fact is, in the midst of our team's August "retreat month" where our team puts a pause on external facilitation, meetings or calls, I just returned from a 2.5 week "vacation."
Yeah, those scare quotes are no joke.
What even is "relaxing" in a global pandemic? I feel like I've completely forgotten how.
Read MoreIf there is any lesson that the pandemic hammered home, it's something that has always been true but seems more so than ever: uncertainty is certain.
If uncertainty is certain - how can we design for uncertainty? How can we prepare ourselves and others for uncertainty? How can we create predictability and consistency with the context of uncertainty?
Read MoreI've come to see that paternalism is my own personal kryptonite. I can't stand people thinking they know better than me what is best for me - and not just thinking it, but assuming and acting on it.
The truth is that I've experienced paternalism my entire life. It's everywhere - it's in the air we breath, and we're all, to varying degrees, socialized into it.
It's also pretty much a founding principle for most of our non-profit and mission driven corporate clients.
The thing that we find that organizations and their leaders don't understand though is that paternalism hurts them too.
Read MoreIt has long been my experience that white women, traumatized by patriarchy, become tools of white supremacy. White women talk about recognizing their privilege but what we also need them to do is recognize their trauma. Hurt people hurt people, and while that isn't an excuse and doesn't let anyone off the hook, it is a dynamic that I believe needs to be unpacked and reckoned with.
White women need to heal their trauma so they can stop causing harm to people of color.
It's not just white women either.
Read MoreI read a very helpful article this morning: Teacher Demoralization Isn't the Same as Teacher Burnout.
Says the article: "It is worth distinguishing teacher demoralization from burnout. Teachers' ongoing value conflicts with the work (demoralization) cannot be solved by the more familiar refrain for teachers to practice self-care in order to avoid exhaustion (burnout). Demoralization occurs when teachers cannot reap the moral rewards that they previously were able to access in their work. It happens when teachers are consistently thwarted in their ability to enact the values that brought them to the profession." (my emphasis)
Read MoreI'll admit that, up until recently, I had thought more of lip service as saying something when you don't actually mean it.
What we're seeing is a kind of lip service where the organization or person may actually genuinely mean what they say, or think that they do, but when it comes to taking action, especially actions that come with some sort of cost, they balk.
It's the gap between intention and action that we have long seen, recognized, identified, and named, but only recently have I started to connect that to lip service.
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