DEIB : A change of core beliefs

The biggest hurdle in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belongingness (Instead of all 4 words, I would instead prefer one word - Compassion) is - the lack of acknowledgement that "we are a part of the problem". While most organizations struggle through a lot of initiatives, conversations, creative ways to lead people into the space of awareness, it's important to understand human behaviors and what really motivates any change. While there could be system and structural changes at an organization level, the sustainable change is possible only when there's change at an individualistic level as well.

Transtheoretical model (TTM) was developed in the 1970s and early 1980s by researchers James O. Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente, which focussed on the long term behaviour changes. And DEIB is a space where we are challenging the core beliefs of an individual, every single thing they held true all their lives! While I get passionate at times over one aspect of DEIB, I'm invariably excluding some other aspect which I may even not be aware of; hence all the more the reason for why it needs to be global collective consciousness.

The model focuses on 1) precontemplation. 2) contemplation 3) preparation. 4) action 5) maintenance 6) termination. Here's an article that provides more insight into the stages.

https://psychcentral.com/lib/stages-of-change#6-stages

I'm more intrigued by the stages of 1) Precontemplation and 2) Contemplation which may seem very theoretical as you read through it, but it genuinely helps when you keep reminding yourself that if we were to decode Precontemplation to contemplation - it's those moments that you see in most movies which is the crux of the climax; realising that you've messed up a relationship because of your innate belief system; achieved everything that you always wanted, only to realise that it's not bringing in the expected happiness; an outcry for help etc.

While covid may have brought out the core realization that most of us in the world are people who want to succeed in all spheres of life and live well, we also are slaves of habits; the ones' we've formed based on decades of experiences.

There's a strong mental model that's breaking up for an individual, some of us may be able to break that up sooner, while for some it may take some time,or may not be ready for it as yet, because maybe those beliefs were strongly cemented; whichever be the case, it's important to keep building those experiences and environment that creates those situations which challenge people when they are in the "precontemplation" stage and each one of us have a responsibility towards it irrespective of the roles we play in an organization.

So while we look at DEIB initiatives, it's important to note that - the majority of the employees may be in the precontemplation to contemplation stage for each of the sub groups of DEIB. And a few of them turn into Ally's for few specific groups. So painting the entire organization with one brush is great to help people move from Stage 1 to Stage 2 and you'll need focussed efforts to help people move from Stage 2 - contemplation to Stage 3 of action.

The true element of being an ALLY is when you've moved to the stage of Action and the time each one spends in each of these phases is very individualistic in nature. When DEIB initiatives are run, it's not possible for one to turn into an Ally to all the minority groups, and the truth is even the most evolved DEIB professional needs to keep reminding themselves that they are a "work in progress" and keep staying open to change.

And as Maya Angelou says in her song "Human Family": Fundamentally, we are more alike my friend than we are unlike". Hence I believe focussing on what makes us "alike" is way of fostering inclusion without complicating and expecting people to change overnight.