Diversity in tech is broken. And probably not the way you think.
In light of all of the mess that’s been going on in the tech/startup ecosystem, not just in Silicon Valley, but really all over the world (Dave McClure, Chris Sacca and beyond) I thought this blog would be somewhat topical. I am not however going to talk about them or what they did at all. At this point some of you have lost interest already, and some of you read that as the only reason to continue reading. I will try my best to not make this an opinion piece, but rather share a small anecdote to shed some light on a parallel topic.
I know I just said this wouldn’t be an opinion piece, but I lied a little—it is my belief that, at least in business, we should be hiring, recruiting, and delegating based solely on the principle of best person for the job. After all, all is fair in love, war and business right? *cringe*
So, rather than continue down that rabbit hole, I’ll share a recent story that happened to me and my colleagues. I’ll spare the names and parties involved, even though I shouldn’t cause I think they’re high off their ass for acting this way. Anyways, I received an email from a co-worker of mine one afternoon stating they had a great local speaking opportunity passed to them and thought that I should do it. Naturally, I said “Of course! Make the introduction so they can pass the relevant details to me.” Just moments later I get a phone call from the organizer of aforementioned event. “Hey Chris! Yeah.. soo..” I instantly knew what was up. The colleague of mine they originally reached out to is a visible minority; I (if you haven’t noticed) am a white male. Sorry. “You don’t want a white dude speaking, eh?” as I chuckled. “Well, yeah. This is awkward for me, but you know how it is right? We need to diversify the panel.” I’ll be honest, they did try and back pedal by saying my co-worker was specifically recommended, but that didn’t sit well with me seeing as that co-worker even laughed when I told them that. To me, that’s not fair to my colleague who now knows why they were actually selected, and admittedly felt they weren’t the most appropriate choice to represent the business and do what would yield the best results. It’s also not fair to our company, who all parties involved are trying to do right by. I was floored. I immediately called my co-worker to tell them what had happened and we both agreed how asinine and broken their idea of diversity was. Did we take the speaking opportunity anyways? Fuck yes we did. I’ll take advantage of that any day.
And no this is not a story of the poor white dude who is feeling oppressed and finally didn’t get what he wanted—I couldn’t care less about personally taking the particular speaking engagement, and instead was thrilled my colleague could take advantage of the opportunity to sharpen their public speaking skills and achieve some awesome personal growth. To which, I had no doubt they would succeed at. This is a story of political bullshit getting in the way of what may or may not be right for a particular business. The point is, that is our decision not theirs.
That’s my little story. I’m not sharing this because I think my opinion means more than anyone else’s, I just simply want to see people get rewarded for their actions, drive, hustle etc. not by their gender or the color of their skin. When did our idea of diversity and inclusion become so broken?
And in case you’re wondering, here’s our incredibly high-executing, diverse, and beautiful looking team:

