Diversity FTW

In my 13 years of running icuc.social, the best work, ideas and debates have always been born in environments with diverse teams.

Of course, good work can come out of teams of a single ‘label’, but I’ll say it again, the best work ALWAYS comes from diverse teams.

For brand leaders, best work generally means better profits so why wouldn’t they encourage diversity?

For teams, diverse groups generally mean more fun, more value, greater achievement, so why wouldn’t they demand diversity?

There is no sensible reason to discourage diversity and inclusion, and everyone has responsibility for being part of the conversation.

For me that conversation is about getting it done and giving people the tools to not only change the agenda but reinvent it above and way beyond the ‘oh we need a woman in this pitch team’ scenario.

By tools I mean education about where we are at in terms of diversity, I mean empowering management to think out the box and not follow well-trodden paths and I mean encouraging environments that actively seek to create the best work possible.

Do I do a good enough job on this? No not really and I pledge here to change that — not only with regard to work, but from a personal point of view too as having a 4-year-old daughter helps focus the mind on what the future looks like in terms of her career opportunities and the world in which she will be working.

Her temperament already suggests she won’t put up with any crap, but I would like to think that before she gets to job hunting age, not a single option is closed off because we all worked hard enough to ensure equality isn’t just a right, it just is.

I think it’s important to say this shouldn’t just all be about gender though and too often the narrative about gender equality doesn’t speak to or reflect the full diversity of women. We need to consider diversity and inclusion wherever possible — from race to disability, from religion to sexuality . I love the idea of encouraging blokes to take more time off to spend with their new babies. I love the idea of encouraging those with mental health issues to be brave and seek help from those around them and I love the idea that even if you can’t get into the office due to a serious disability you can still be part of the team and do great work from home.

Barriers are there to be broken, let’s just get it done.