What do you think of when you hear the term DEI? The letters themselves stand for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. DEI—or otherwise, “diversity training”—has been in vogue over the past few years. But for many it conjures up thoughts of the mandatory “sensitivity training” during the 1980s, a sort of group therapy where everyone shared their feelings whether you wanted to or not.
True diversity brings us innovation or the pursuit of new ideas. It’s not shutting anyone out when they have something different to offer. But it is diversity of thought we should seek.
Inclusion brings us collaboration or teamwork. It allows for a variety of people on a team.
And as for “equity,” well, who knows . . . ? Ask 10 different DEI trainers for a definition and you are likely to get at least half a dozen answers. In truth, equity is some sort of an attempt to place everyone at the same level irrespective of their individual work ethic.
But it’s that collaboration which gives us innovation. And that ingenuity gives a company its growth.
With so much confusion about the topic, is diversity training even important? Well, yes. But as stated in a previous article of mine, poor DEI training can do more harm than good. For that reason, I have created a model of diversity training witch fosters the growth of a team, yet respects the potential of the individual.
The model of diversity I teach is IDEA: Inclusion, Diversity, Excellence and Autonomy. I wrote about it in my recent book, The Individual Team: How Fairness Wrecked the Workplace. We have discussed most of this acronym already. The first two concepts affect the functioning of the group itself, while excellence and autonomy are aspects of the individual employee.
Not everyone on the team is going to be a star player. And that’s alright, as long as everyone is operating at the best of their ability. Excellence is the optimum performance for each individual. What I have noticed is that not everyone is aware of their full potential. This is where a good boss or leader can make a profound difference in the skill level and ability of each employee.
Autonomy is an understanding that we are responsible for ourselves and our actions. It is the acceptance that others will have different values from our own. However, we are each responsible for our own beliefs. And is that such a bad thing?
We are not responsible for convincing others to adopt our personal beliefs. That is their autonomy. And those who feel a need to convert others may give the impression that they lack confidence in their own convictions. It raises the question of how steadfast one is in their beliefs if he relies on others for validation.
Are you a vegetarian? Congratulations, but I really don’t care. I do not want to hear a lecture every time I step foot in the break room. I don’t want to hear what new statistics you have, because no one is going to care more about my own well-being than I do. And if I die of a heart attack due to too much red meat, that’s my fault.
You found something that works for you and that’s great . . . for you. But I am not going to change how I live my life due to your convictions. Just shut up and get back to work.
Conventional DEI training has done such an effective job of dictating what is moral or not that we tend to dismiss what makes us individuals. We are being trained to stop thinking for ourselves, which kills collaboration, innovation and excellence.
Is that teamwork?
