A funny thing happened on the way to Vivid.

Last Friday Legends & Leaders hosted its first ever Vivid Ideas event.

It was a debate on gender diversity in the creative industry.

Quotas vs. merit.

The topic is one that is talked about quite a bit in the industry. Everyone has an opinion and just mentioning it brings about a passionate conversation.

But here are some interesting facts …

As part of the lead up and to help promote the event, I asked many industry and business leaders to provide a video with their point of view on the subject.

Despite asking both sexes to participate, I only received one video from a man. One.

Kudos Andrew Baxter from Publicis.

The same thing happened with attendance. Looking around the room, it was filled mainly with women and a sprinkling of men.

Kudos to those few men who attended.

The debate was a good one. It was intentionally curated with a mix of both genders and ages to help create an interesting, balanced and informed discussion that also provided some entertainment. And it was a success.

Great arguments, a few laughs and a room that started with mainly “merit” voters transformed to become a 50/50 split.

But despite the way the debate was set up, quotas and merit are not opposite sides of the equation. Quotas are simply the way to open doors to women who have merit and can add value to organisations.

There have been many men over the years, decades and beyond who have managed to get their role in a company through means other than “merit”. Do you think they cared?

Women need to get over it.

It doesn’t matter how you get your job. Men have known this forever.

What matters is how you do it once you get it.

So quotas are not going to set us back as a gender … they are simply a means to an end. And women with merit can step up and fill those quotas easily.

But two things need to happen moving forward.

1.   Men need to be a part of the conversation and the solution.

2.   Women need to start playing by the same rules men have for generations.

So stop worrying about how it looks and get in there and kick arse.

#quotasormerit #legendsandleaders #genderdiversity