The Good News: EDI

 Annamaria on Monday

You've heard it here before: newspapers and broadcasters have a prejudice in favor of bad news. And you know why: because we as human beings are more disposed to watch out for bad things than we are to enjoy good things. For the survival of the species this was necessary in the good old days when humankind's worst enemies were lions, tigers, and bears. Nowadays, as we well know, our worst enemies are ourselves.  And the media know that if they have a bad tale to tell, we will pay more attention.  Their motto: "If it bleeds, it leads."

Those of us who keep abreast of the headlines know full well that miserable things are happening, and lots of them. One would think the nasty kind are the only things going on right now. But I am here to say that there are also wonderful things happening, quietly, below the radar of the 6 o'clock news. Regular readers of MIE know that I like to take up this subject from time to time. Today is one such!

This Monday, I'm going to talk about good news that is so widespread that it is just about universal in the United States of America. I'm talking about the efforts of organizations of nearly all types to move themselves toward EQUITY, DIVERSITY, and INCLUSION.

Corporations in all sectors of the economy, medical establishments, arts and non-profit organizations of all sorts, government entities, even including police departments - all over the USA - are undertaking efforts to diversify the ethnic, racial, sexual identity, and religious preferences of their staffs.  Sometimes, the companies are doing this work in a sincere attempt to right the wrongs of the past.  Sometimes, the motivation behind the trend is an attempt to stay in the good graces of the widest possible number of consumers.

The motivation doesn't matter a tenth as much as the activities.  Consultants prepared to help organizations deal with these sensitive issues are doing a land-office business.  A member of my own family was recently pirated from one of the very top technology companies on the globe to work in a pharmaceutical company to help in the EDI effort.  I am on a committee guiding a New York-area theater company with its EDI program.  Our goal is to educate and sensitize the board of directors, a group of stellar citizens already diverse, who support a company with a thirty-five year history of inclusive casting.  Still, like many other such organizations, we are not resting on our laurels.

In the 1970s, when I worked on affirmative action projects on Wall Street, it was the government that spurred such efforts.  They did so with threats.  Back then, lack of compliance with governmental requirements could mean charges of discrimination.  Class-action suits were a strong possibility.  Companies acted because they were afraid not to.  That worked pretty well.  Enough progress was made to trigger a backlash, which sapped momentum from the cause.  It did not, however, roll back all such progress.  A certain amount of diversity in many organizations became the new normal.

This time around, equity, diversity, and inclusion are so much a part of the landscape that company leaders and boards understand that EDI as a philosophy is good for business.

All the big organizations are learning that, once they employ these practices, the company gets more than a wider audience for their goods and services.  They get better employees.  If they look for talent, creativity, and brainpower in the entire population, their biggest reward is better ideas, more successful products, and more social stability to boot.

The great news is that the effort is underway.  Under the radar, perhaps.  But happening NOW!