How do you add diversity to your practice?

Take a journey for a start. Travelling to unknown spaces and “being” the diversity in other heterogeneous communities will give you a sense of what it feels like to be someone from the marginalised. Let these experiences Be with people who don’t speak your language, eat your food, follow your faith, wear your kind of clothes. This will enable an understanding how layered diversity as a topic is and how immensely sensitive it is in your own survival outside your comfort zone. Leadership and layers in the organisation who hold power need curated OD interventions that will make this possible. This is important. The challenges to implementing DEIB values into the organisation is an obstacle by those in power. It’s systemic.

I agree, the first step of looking a nd identifying your biases is the mot difficult step. We are all blind to this as has proven not to be as easy as some have stated. Also, introspection is not a skill that humans do well. There is an episode on the podcast “Hidden Brain” that speaks to this and is illuminating. Also, people of color tend to down play the power and privilege that we have. This happens because it is always in the context of White privilege and power. Moving out of your comfort zone in the examination of the above is one of the best ways to learn. Reading books does have an advantage, but attending events and lectures that will do a deep dive into Diveristy helps to understand yourself.

In my experience as a leader in technology development, the best products, services, and companies are built with diversity in mind. The magic of co-creation is dependent on having different life experiences and perspectives that reflect your target customers needs. Having the people in the room where decisions are made that can help you look around corners and anticipate your target customers needs is a game changer for success. As CEO, I look for people who compliment my skill set and lived experience vs duplicate it.

Promote inclusive practices. 1. Use inclusive language. This means using language that is respectful of all people, regardless of their background. Avoid using language that is discriminatory or offensive. 2. Provide opportunities for everyone to participate. This means being mindful of the different ways that people can contribute and making sure that everyone has a chance to participate. 3. Challenge bias and discrimination. Finally, adding diversity to your practice is an ongoing process. It takes time, effort, and commitment. But it is worth it. A diverse practice is a stronger practice, one that is more reflective of the world we live in and more likely to be successful

Diversity needs to come from within. We can do all the awareness programs and workshops and countless seminars to make everyone aware. But I think it needs to start much deeper from how we educate our children onwards. Otherwise it become another tick mark activity. In India an addition to accept diversity needs to be to accept regions as they are. Its time to look beyond which part of the country you are from and focus on what you bring to the table.

Perhaps a goal should be to move beyond our comfort level, and try to approach different perspectives. It's easy to get bogged down with academic articles, arguing that different cultures use different parts of their brains to process language and mathematics -- & rationalize that there's no understanding the inscrutable. However, if we focus on our similarities, it may become easier to decipher our differences. Small steps can start us on our path. For instance, asking for for someone's help in using chopsticks or preparing starfruit may get you far further in immersion and cultural diffusion than you can imagine -- and from there, the next steps may well become easier.

Being open to feedbacks and seeking help from others does not come naturally to everyone. And this also hinders our growth of learning from others. Only when we see diversity (aka differences in others and ourselves) as an opportunity to gain a new perspective and learning, would we be open to accepting the differences. It is a beautiful journey to have a growth mindset. And this cannot happen in silo. Hence, being open to learning from others is the key to bettering ourselves each day. Learning can happen in so many ways if one is open to receiving it. Experiences, books, people, observations, networking, training, etc... so many channels for us to learn. there is no stopping!

Understand the impact and interplay of cultural competence and systems. Cultural competence is an ability to understand differences and effectively interact across cultures. More and more, people seek culturally competent practitioners that are able to empathize with their life experiences. One way this could show up is in devising a care plan based on the person being served — what works for one person may not work for another. Take time to understand systems and their impact; many systems, including healthcare, adversely affect communities based on how they were structured. Acknowledge and actively mitigate biases. Rather than generalizing, build meaningful relationships with clients through trust and cognizance of their identities.

After we understand ourselves and accept the differences in others, how do we act and be mindful in this diverse ecosystem is very important. We have to constantly unlearn and adapt ourselves to be able to co-exist in an ecosystem that is heterogenous. Adaptation is a practice that can be achieved by being a more open and keen listener of alternative perspective and being more mindful of our own actions that could impact the others. This is a constant path and each day brings a new shift.

Evaluating one's practice is, to me, completing that constant loop of growth and unlearning. Being more focused and nuanced in the needs of others by being patient and open to alternative viewpoints. Doing an objective check on your own actions and its impacts on the receiver to be able to improve subsequently. The most direct and effective method of evaluating your own actions is to seek feedback from all the stakeholders and then objectively analyzing and course correcting the actions based on it.

It all culminates to rejoicing in your journey of embracing diversity and being an active and constant advocate of diversity and inclusion! :). We amplify when we celebrate and share and spread the joy of diversity. Hence this is a very important step to be constantly acknowledged during the diversity practice journey. Expand the circles of diversity to create a happier and more inclusive world!