Slow is Smooth and Smooth is Fast
A strategy exercise for Diversity&Inclusion Leaders unhappy with the speed of change
So last week in the UK there has been another report about the stagnation in the gender way gap.
Now off course the pressure to do something will only increase, as will the overall pressure to be seen to be doing more to improve the Diversity, Inclusivity & Equity of many companies [and in particular the ones that are male-dominated].
But most likely that pressure won’t lead to the changes that would make people happy.
So the question that is obvious to ask is; why won’t change happen?
Well one possible explanation [again in particular for male-dominated companies] is, that increased EDI complexity [ due to expanding intersectionality], leads to increased abstraction in the minds of those who need to embrace change [how many employees do you know who can realistically say they know or can empathise with a person in every lgbtqia+ category, as an example?].
Increased abstraction leads to increased emotional distance, which leads to compassion fatigue and eventually no motivation or desire to change.
So…what to do? Try Slow is smooth and smooth is fast exercise.
I’m going to bastardise Grant McCracken concept of slow and fast culture
As Grant conceived it, fast culture is the bleeding edge, as seen in the fast fashion and entertainment industries. Slow culture is the less flashy, more subtle trends, like how our relationship to food, or how homes are changing to reflect new needs.
In the context of Work, fast work cultures are again the bleeding edge, as seen in Silicon Valley and other progressive hubs in the Western World.
Slow work cultures are less adventurous and most likely to be just slightly ahead or on par with what legislation requires them to do. And in their approach to employee wellbeing they can be seen /accused to be somewhat paternalistic.
Again, like most things in life, no company is a 100% one culture, but in my experience it’s directionally correct enough for clients to mentally pinpoint their company’s place on this continuum.
Now let’s say company hasn’t changed much in the make up of the workforce and over embracing of EDI since 2010.
You now have two options in the culture change game.
- Looking at what is the norm in 2023 [as seen by other companies, best practices etc] and try to get your company up to date with that…OR
- Accept that you company is institutionally/culturally in 2010 and try and move you company towards 2014.
What were the cultural work norms in 2014, what was seen as trendy then and what was adopted and ingrained in behaviours in that year re: EDI?
As an exercise it rarely leads to leaders verbatim adopting things that from almost a decade [or older] ago. What it does help leaders see what failed then and how to find resonance today.
It gives them a fresh look at how to align 2023 to 2010 in terms of employee trust, roll out of plans and overall narrative.
The most important aim of any CEO and their HR leaders struggling to increase EDI [especially in male-dominated companies] is to create a narrative that brings Diversity & Inclusion home on a personal/cultural level to every employee.
The employees in companies that are frustrated & overwhelmed by & skeptical of 2023 DEI efforts need to name a lack of diversity in their company as a real problem already impacting their [work]lives.
Only then can we wade through the reality of the need to make changes and the uncertainty of what that will look like.
The biggest cause of conflicted feelings about D&I action is a lack of personal connection to the urgency of more intersectionality/diversity in the workplace as a pressing problem in need of a solution.
