Why inclusion first?

Earlier this year I had the fortune to attend Startup Grind in Redwood City, and it was in the darkness of Fox Theater from one of the far orchestra seats that I met one of my personal heroes — Ben Horowitz.

Ben’s talk was, “What is Culture?” It was especially timely, as Susan Fowler’s Post was fresh on everyone’s minds, and it seemed like Ben was directly addressing the broken tech culture that led up to her Very Strange Year at Uber.

According to Mr. Horowitz, having a 24-hour buffet with great food is not culture. Bring-your-puppy-to-work-day is not culture. Hosting dress-like-a-unicorn and drink beer while winning at ping-pong tourneys is NOT culture.

Indeed, what is Culture?

“Culture is the collective behavior of an organization… and whether or not you go about creating one, you’re going to get one anyway.” — a16z

Inclusive culture is what keeps diversity alive. And unless we are intentional about building inclusive cultures, diversity drains out of our organizations and companies.

The reason why the focus of this blog focuses on Inclusion is that Diversity is impossible without it. We have heard a lot about the lack of diversity in the tech industry recently. There are many efforts to bring more diverse candidates into the pipeline. But according to the Kapor Center’s Tech Leavers Study, unfairness-based employee turnover is a $16 billion loss for the industry. The missing piece is inclusive culture.

Over the next months, I will be interviewing leaders in the tech industry on their experiences with inclusive leadership and the challenges they faced in creating an environment where diversity can thrive. Stay tuned!