Growth requires diversity and inclusion

I’ve told this story before. In the last F500 company in which I worked, I recall sitting in the board room with 40 of the company’s top executives. There were 39 white guys, and one black woman in charge of DEI programs. This wasn’t my only experience like this, but it was the starkest.

This formed my view that the DEI wave of programs was a) ineffective at addressing the issues it was intended to address and b) just theater for many companies.   I know others have had different experiences with DEI.  I’ve talked with people who have seen highly negative results from DEI programs, with an overfocus on the form and an underfocus on the substance of diversity and inclusion.

While my experience may not be universal, research suggests it was representative. This WSJ article presents a more complete picture of the working world and concludes that DEI programs were largely ineffective at S&P 500 companies. White men still dominate executive roles, and DEI programs didn’t significantly change this.

Now, as a nation, we are disassembling DEI programs.  We are stripping it out of government agencies.  Large employers are walking away from DEI — Google is just the latest.   DEI has become a political football, and the phrase “DEI” is poison to many people.   

If DEI programs had been responsible for a dramatic and successful societal change, I would fight this.  As observed above, though, they have not made a material difference, so there is little point in fighting to hang onto them.

But we absolutely do need to fight for a new set of ideas and initiatives to advance fairness and opportunity for all.  The US is the most innovative and wealthy economy in the world, and we need to keep up our innovation and growth to pay for the society we want, defend it, and cover the debts we have incurred.   Economic growth is the only way out of our debt hole.

And we can only sustain exceptional economic growth if we get the most out of ALL our citizens.  We need new generations of scientists, entrepreneurs, engineers, inventors, mechanics, doctors, educators, entertainers, artists, and more.   We cannot afford to be throwing human lives away — we cannot afford to lose the creativity and output of so many people because of failed education systems, poverty, lack of access to healthcare, poor housing, and lack of adequate food.  We need every single citizen to reach their full potential — and right now, we are leaving way too many people behind.   

Diversity and inclusion are investments in our growth.   We must redouble our efforts to get the best out of all our people, not walk away from these ideals.  And we can all vote with our feet.  I don’t have much hiring power anymore, but I have purchase power, and I will use it to buy from organizations that embrace diversity and are inclusive.