You know the Pogo comic strip quote, "We have met the enemy and he is us"? Last week was one of those times.

Last week, we did a Weekly Wrap-up about 16 studies on DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion). A team member selected the picture to accompany it – two White hands.  

Ironic, isn't it? A post about diversity, and we went with a picture that completely missed the mark.

Want to see the picture we’re talking about? Here it is, as tiny as we can make it:

This was my reaction of disbelief.

How did we end up using such an inappropriate picture? 

We all know the answer. It’s what we’re used to seeing. It’s the cultural norm.

It reminded me of something that happened years ago. My colleague Stephanie, who is White, went to buy a card for our Black client who'd just had a baby. She came back frustrated, saying she'd never had such trouble finding a card. Every store only had cards with White babies. She finally found one with a cute Black baby and grabbed it.

I laughed and laughed. Welcome to my world! She now gets it! I still remember the delight of it all. It was such a relief to know she got this part of my life. I felt much less alone in our mostly White institution.

Chronic Unease

Stephanie was demonstrating the Conscious Change skill we call "chronic unease." She had enough experience to recognize that it was not OK to send a White baby card to a Black mom.

A quick refresher on the meaning of “chronic unease.” It’s the shorthand term we use when someone is vigilant about potential acts of exclusionary behaviors. It’s about being aware of exclusionary behaviors and recognizing when something is off.

Here is another example. I used to ask people I met to just call me "Jean." But then I discovered that people in some cultures viewed calling a professor by her first name as disrespectful. That’s when I started offering to call me either "Jean" or "Dr. Jean."

Recently, a Latina woman told me how much she appreciated that flexibility. As she explained, "Having my culture respected means a lot to me."

Minyon Moore said this about staying aware of potential exclusion:

Lessons for all of us

If you noticed the two White hands image in the previous newsletter and found it off-putting, we sincerely apologize.

Here’s what we (re)learned:

1. What we teach, we often need to learn ourselves. The irony of this happening in our shop isn't lost on me.
2. Chronic unease needs to be chronic. If we let our guard down, we will end up inadvertently excluding someone.
3. We have a growth mind orientation. We see this as an opportunity for improvement, not for allowing our inner critic to beat ourselves up. 

If we could rewind time and go back, here is a much better picture to illustrate DEI in the workplace:

See the difference? We certainly do.

[1] Norwood, C. (2024) She helped create a more inclusive Democratic Party. Now she’s leading the convention.