Navigating Identity and Change in Workplace DEI

If #diversity, #equity, and #inclusion practitioners want to get ahead of anti-DEI backlash, we have to address an elephant in the room: no two people in the same workplace perceive their workplace the same way. I see this every time I work with client organizations. When asked to describe their own experience with the workplace and its DEI strengths and challenges, I hear things like: 😊 "I've never experienced any discrimination or mistreatment; our leaders' commitment is strong." 🤨 "I had a good time in one department, but after transferring departments I started experiencing explicit ableist comments under my new manager." 🙁 "I've never had anything egregious happen, but I've always felt less respected by my team members because of my race." Who's right? Turns out, all of them. It starts to get messy because everyone inevitably generalizes their own personal experiences into their perception of the workplace as a whole; three people might accordingly describe their workplace as a "meritocracy without discrimination," an "inconsistently inclusive workplace dependent on manager," or "a subtly racist environment." And when people are confronted with other experiences of the workplace that DIFFER from their own, they often take it personally. I've seen leaders bristle at the implication that their own experience was "wrong," or get defensive in expectation they will be accused of lacking awareness. It's exactly this defensiveness that lays the foundation for misunderstanding, polarization, and yes—anti-DEI misinformation—to spread in an organization. How do we mitigate it? In my own work, I've found that these simple steps go a long way. 1. Validate everyone's experience. Saying outright that everyone's personal experience is "correct" for themselves might seem too obvious, but it plays a powerful role in helping everyone feel respected and taken seriously. Reality is not a question of "who is right"—it's the messy summation of everyone's lived experience, good or bad. 2. Use data to create a shared baseline. Gathering data by organizational and social demographics allows us to make statements like, "the average perception of team respect is 70% in Engineering, but only 30% in Sales," or "perception of fair decision making processes is 90% for white men, but only 40% for Black women." This establishes a shared reality, a baseline for any effective DEI work. 3. Make it clear that problem-solving involves—and requires—everyone. The goal of DEI work is to achieve positive outcomes for everyone. Those with already positive experiences? Their insights help us know what we're aiming for. Those with the most negative? Their insights help us learn what's broken. The more we communicate that collective effort benefits the collective, rather than shaming or dismissing those at the margins, the more we can unite people around DEI and beat the backlash.

This "disillusionment with DEI" we're seeing today reminds me of the Ostrich Effect, where both companies and DEI professionals are acting like ostriches. Companies rebranding DEI into some "meritocracy excellence" fluff or those completely halting investment in it are burying their heads in the sand to avoid acknowledging that people are diverse and will continue to have different needs and access to opportunities. By ignoring this reality, they miss out on their true organizational potential. Younger employees will demand it even more, leading to a loss of competitive advantage in the future. This disillusionment stems from a misunderstanding of the business case for diversity. It doesn't come from merely having different faces in the room. You must strategize, form teams wisely, address systems and processes, and grow leaders who can create a climate of diverse information exchange. Yes, it takes effort. But the collective intelligence from well-leveraged diversity is your best business case, yet you've never aimed for it because it's unknown and hard. The same goes for DEI professionals who have fed companies false promises. The intention to engage as many people as possible in much-needed changes was noble. However, some of us tried to deliver results alone, without a budget or solid competence, which meant failure from the start. Now, as we observe disengagement, we again bury our heads in the sand as if there's no problem. There is: things don't work this way, and our task is to change the approach, not the mission. We need to think holistically, introduce change consciously, use an evidence-based approach, plan strategically, manage stakeholders, work with influence, and not promise to deliver anything without the resources. DEI is a new field, and it's no surprise we're all learning as we move forward. That's normal. What's not normal is to remain rigid in our thinking and approaches. Diversity work, in my opinion, starts with mindset work. It begins with thinking in first principles, then in systems, realizing cognitive and emotional processes involved, mitigating bias in our judgment, self-discovery, understanding the social context and power dynamics, discovering others who are different from us, learning evidence-based methods to address decision-making pitfalls, and finally, acting thoughtfully. It's not as fun as taking an industry report that says diversity drives performance and buying one-off easy solutions, I get it. But ignoring it like an ostrich moves us nowhere, and we've all got a bright future to move towards together. ________________________________________ Looking for more insights on better thinking? 📨 Join my free newsletter: https://lnkd.in/dsyQSRxV

🇸🇾🇸🇹🇪🇲🇸 🇹🇭🇮🇳🇰🇮🇳🇬 This was the single biggest learning I took from my years as a #diversity and #inclusion practitioner at Google, thanks to my brilliant former colleague Dr. Myosha M. – who introduced the concept to me. And seeing Harvard Business Review spotlight it this month reminded me just how pivotal it's been in shaping my career. The article makes a clear point: many "innovations" create as many problems as they solve, because they're designed in silos. Plastics made life cheaper and more convenient – and created an ecological nightmare. Ride-sharing expanded access – and gutted livelihoods. Breakthroughs and design thinking alone can't handle wicked problems. That's where systems thinking comes in: zooming out to see interdependencies, ripple effects, and relationships before zooming in to act. And honestly, DEI are the definition of a wicked problem: complex, entwined, yet unresolved despite the best efforts of people with noble interests at heart. Too often, we see linear, surface-level fixes like: ‣ Rolling out #UnconsciousBias training hoping that alone changes culture; ‣ Announcing hiring targets without rethinking criteria nor shifting retention practices; ‣ Celebrating "heritage months" without shifting power or budgets. A systems lens flips that: ‣ Instead of just bias training → embed equity checks and accountability loops into promotion processes, feedback systems, and manager incentives; ‣ Instead of hiring targets → redesign career paths so that minoritised employees stay, grow, and lead; ‣ Instead of one-off cultural celebrations → rewire procurement, governance, and leadership pipelines to shift actual resources and decision-making power. The HBR piece – written by Tima Bansal & Julian Birkinshaw – outlines four moves that resonate deeply with DEI work: 1️⃣ Define a desired future state (equity not as a slogan, but as the organisation's actual vision); 2️⃣ Reframe problems so they resonate across stakeholders (it's not "fixing women" but redesigning systems of overwork, pay, and recognition); 3️⃣ Focus on flows and relationships, not just one-off events (think: sponsorship networks, not just mentoring matchmaking); 4️⃣ Nudge the system forward with experiments (pilots that test structural change, then scale). These may sound abstract at first, but they're actually more grounded and effective than the window-dressing that burns out practitioners and disappoints employees while fuelling anti-DEI rhetoric. Because here's the thing: equity work should never be a side project, something delegated to an amateur, or a PR play. It's inherently a system redesign. And once you see it through that lens, the work gets harder — but also genuinely transformative. 💬 Curious: looking at your own org's DEI efforts, which feel most aligned to #SystemsThinking? ⬇️ Link to the article in comments.

DEI leaders are facing more resistance than ever. As we all grapple with the growing uncertainty in our industry, I've spent countless hours researching the right language, fine-tuning Perfeqta’s strategies, and pivoting to help my consultant network stay ahead of the recent rollbacks. I've been in constant conversations with other professionals, putting our heads together to navigate this and continue to support our clients and organizations. I know it’s overwhelming. I’ve felt it too. Here’s where I’ve landed so far: 1. Don’t wait too long to adjust to a changing environment. Evolving is crucial, and the longer you stick to what’s comfortable, the harder it becomes to navigate shifts. 2. Stay informed on legal compliance. Keep your initiatives aligned with evolving policies. Work with legal counsel to assess any necessary adjustments while protecting your core DEI efforts. 3. It’s also Black History Month. I’m reminded that leadership has always required resilience in the face of adversity, but growth doesn’t happen when you’re running on empty. To lead others, you have to first lead yourself. 4. Get crystal clear with executive leadership Ensure that business leaders understand the long-term value of DEI. It's not just about compliance, but about performance, innovation, and engagement. 5. Adapt the language if necessary If “DEI” is facing pushback in your organization, consider reframing the language without diluting the intent. Ensure that the work continues, no matter the term used. 6. Prioritize your well-being. Leading in a polarized environment is exhausting. Set boundaries, build a support network, and take care of your mental and emotional health. This work requires us to sustain ourselves so we can continue leading with impact. Leadership today is about striking the balance between observation and action. The future of DEI may look uncertain, but the need for inclusive, equitable workplaces has not changed.