Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is on every corporation’s and organization’s to do list. I figured since I have such a broad scope of readership, I better make sure I am trying to educate myself. 

One of the main proponents in corporate life is McKinsey, the management consultant firm. There is a senior partner, Bill Schananger, who is their talent expert on getting and keeping worthwhile employees but more on that later. Several of my definitions are taken from one of their articles. 

Diversity is relatively straight forward (no play on words) and consists of different types of people according to gender, age, ethnicity, color, and even what they think. With 7 billion plus on this big blue marble how do you incorporate what each and everyone of us think? But I digress. 

Equity gets a little dicier. If you consider the word equality that assumes we are all created equal. As imperfect as that sounds we have been dealing with this for several centuries but I daresay we have not gotten it down pat yet. Equity is more complex. Your upbringing or familial fortunes may make you automatically better off than a person of equal talent. All interns are equal but if you don’t have to worry about not getting paid then you have a leg up on the field. Interesting point. 

Inclusion means all voices are to be heard with some sort of validity as worthwhile. I guess that means no matter how off the wall you are, you are to be heard and appreciated. I think this is where we create safe spaces in school. I heard recently that a child in school thought they were a cow and therefore could pee and poop outside. Icarus thought he was a bird in Greek mythology and you know where that got him, flying too close to the sun.

This inclusion really gives me pause. If we keep parsing down our identities in absurdly minute detail don’t we really create disunity? There are no rules. There are no standards. There is to be no judgment of accomplishment or achievement. It is not only weird to me but really smacks of an impossible dilemma. Is this what we want? 

Going back to McKinsey if we get everyone involved and proposing ideas then we will create products that everyone will love and be ultra useful. Because it has been created by every color and ethnicity it should appeal to everyone’s morality. Because the workers have been heard, they are happy as clams and will produce more and better. The titans of industry have seen the light and now shower everyone with largesse from their private banks and  the world will live as one. Huh?

Mea culpa! I am taking this a tad too far but is this the new B School curriculum? In a perfect world sure, but as flawed as we are how does this come to be? Take the glass ceiling. In my career I can hearken back to Wall Street in the late 80’s and early 90’s. I worked with some very smart and hard working women. When I put in for a raise for one of them the response was,”She doesn’t have a wife and kids!” I kid you not. 

This wasn’t putting females in places for window dressing. They were fantastic.I will probably lose my male ID card for this but I have often wondered if we would have wars today if women were more in positions of authority. My point is that if we can’t get the corporate hierarchy straight with regard to gender discrimination, how the hell are we going to welcome someone in drag to a corporate meeting? 

I am not in a panic but rather fascinated that we have all of a sudden on every stage, striven to be open, welcoming and yes demanding inclusion. It is not adequate for a school, church or business to say let’s talk about it. If you don’t do it at this very minute we are going to blow your whole idea of heaven out of the water. Just ask Target, Budweiser or Disney. DEI is not a topic to be discussed it is an ultimatum. I have never liked having a gun to my head. 

Do I want a black, Hispanic or Asian or a gay person to have a fair shot at a job or tenure as a teacher? Of course I do, if you have read me for a period of time. Have many of them been screwed over the years? Yes, indeed. But you can’t do a 180 degree turn on two counts. First you are assuming everything we have done and put forth over the life of our country or even the world is flawed and has to be blown up. I appreciate your point of view but I believe you are wrong. 

Secondly, you are now saying to me that I have to accept your credos whether they are white supremacy or rights for every sub category of the human race. Do I want to hear you? Of course, but don’t try to intimidate me or shout me down without a hell a lot of pushback. Today’s negation of any conservative thought on campuses is a bad optic for any thinking American. Is this where we are to learn or just be indoctrinated? 

I abhor the big ass pickups in the Sunshine State carrying Trump and American flags all over town. 63% of Republicans believe the election was stolen. They just won’t listen to reason. When I see speaker shouted down or disinvited at a major university I feel the same way. We have lost our way. 

Be inclusive, equitable and diverse but don’t jam it down my throat. Maybe instead of thinking about how different we are, we could study how alike we are or could be? Maybe that is irrational on my part but it is the only clear path I can see. 

As always

Ted The Great 

Factoids;

Gender is the way someone identifies internally and how they choose to express themselves externally. People can use their appearance, clothing style, and behaviors to express the gender they identify with.

A person’s sex is often based on biological factors, such as their reproductive organs, genes, and hormones.

Cisgender: Someone who is cisgender identifies with the sex they were assigned at birth. 

Nonbinary: Someone who is nonbinary doesn’t experience gender within the gender binary. 

Omnigender: Someone who experiences and possesses all genders.

Transgender: An umbrella term encompassing everyone who experiences and identifies with a different gender than the one they were assigned at birth.

I print these because I myself wanted to understand the terms better and there are plenty more. If you read me you know I respect your ability to do whatever you want. I feel people are pushed into things at an inappropriate time. For kids who have feelings from 5-18 of different sexual identification, it  is part of growing up. Some continue and some change. To use hormones or surgical transformation at this age I find objectionable in every aspect. If a child is having a difficult time as a boy or girl they might envision themselves as better as an opposite. As crazy as it sounds it might be an easy way out. They then find out too late that they were wrong. To make this part of curricula presents options that cannot be suggested after a cursory exam or discussion. We find the need to enable every thought or fantasy no matter how young. We want to shield every pain or discomfort, I just feel it is part of growing up to deal with difficulty. Can we really micromanage adolescence and young adulthood?   TTG