Individual development only gets you so far

In today’s social and political climate, a lack of awareness is not due to a lack of information -- unless you are part of the Global Majority, in which case you are understandably more concerned with survival than social climate; But I digress.

Never before has access to knowledge been more widely available. A member of a company’s board, C-suite, or senior leadership will surely be skilled in navigating search engines, news outlets, and other forms of media. Keeping oneself current and informed is part and parcel of these positions. This goes for social trends and issues as much as business concerns. The latter does not happen in isolation from the former.

Information is out there. Resources are out there.

Yet, people who are part of the dominant culture in their spaces — that happens to be white, affluent, able-bodied, middle-aged, cis-gender, heterosexual men, for the majority of companies in the Global North — all too often react with surprise, skepticism, or push-back, when it comes to implementing tangible actions for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB).

So let me ask you this: how likely is it that this resistance will be overcome by attending mandatory training, in you opinion?

Spoiler: it hardly ever works.

A lack of awareness most often speaks to inner resistance.

We’ve had these participants in our training. They are the ones who cancel last minute, answer emails the entire time if they do show up, or disrupt the group with unhelpful and snarky comments that do little more than reveal their insecurities.

Individual development can only get us so far. It’s a single thread of a larger tapestry of strategic directions needing to be woven together to create lasting change.

To include people in positions of power in sustainable DEIB initiatives, efforts on institutional and structural levels are often more effective than individual development initiatives (i.e. one-off workshops or training).

That doesn’t mean we should discount or ignore the potential of individual development. But it certainly should not be the only thing we invest our time or money in.

(Read more on the trouble with Unconscious Bias Trainings — currently the most popular Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training requested by companies.)

Best case: it’s a waste of resources. Worst case: you’ll produce a backlash effect and make your job that much more difficult in the long run.

You are effectively pushing your problem down the road, in favor of a (supposed) “quick win”. That quick win will end up being your “slow loss” (is that a thing? If not, it should be).

We cannot solve systemic issues on an individual level (alone).

They need to be addressed on a systems level. As Michelle Ryan mentioned in their recent Nature article:

“Individually targeted interventions, at best, provide a short-term fix for a few already privileged [women], and, at worst, reinforce the assumptions of success and leadership that underlie systemic gender inequality. Indeed, training programs [for women] can have perverse effects by becoming yet another unrewarding demand on their time.”

Do your work right, and people will catch on — in time. Especially if the work touches on all directions in synchrony:

• Policies & Processes

• Transparent, ongoing, and appropriate change communication

• Guidelines and Tools

• Data-driven metrics

• Consistent feedback loops

• Community Building

• Events & Programming

• Multidirectional Mentorship & Sponsorship

We need people to connect the dots.

That doesn’t happen in a single workshop. Nor does it happen in six. Especially not for those most resistant.

Nobody likes to feel like they’re not with the times and need to have change stuffed down their throats. As Rosabeth Moss Kanter points out in her article on the 10 reasons people resist change: “Change is resisted when it makes people feel stupid.”

Let your intentions, consistent actions, and positive results become the magnetic pull that draws them in.

As we’ve learned in Design Justice — centering those most marginalized in our design ends up producing the best results for everyone.

That goes for organizational design as well.