Mirrors & Windows

I recently came across this very provocative report carried about by Google called “Mirrors & Windows”. The report looks at how the UK media and advertising industry have started to pay a lot of attention on diversity, equity and inclusion. Movements such as Pride, #MeToo, and Black Lives Matter have brought questions of #representation, #equality, and #identity to the forefront of national and international conversations. With over 10,000 people surveyed, the goal was to find out how their identity informs what they watch.

Unsurprisingly the report shows that viewers want to see their identities and values matched in what they watch. This has led to the rapid rise of open platforms such YouTube because it empowers diverse and creative talent to thrive.

I have personally noticed over the years that I watch less and less TV (barring my sports package subscription). My viewing is split between streaming apps such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO, Lionsgate and of course YouTube. It is for a number of reasons I consume TV this way; firstly, convenience. I work full time and have a newborn baby making it extremely difficult to keep up with scheduled programming. Secondly, 90% of what is on TV doesn't appeal to me (not a fan of reality TV). Lastly, it’s hard for me to watch something that is far away from my reality. Now granted, I think media companies have done a great job at creating more diverse content and I do see a lot more diverse faces on the box on the odd occasion I turn it on, but a lot it feels forced. Like it is something they have to do rather than want to do.

Hence the rise of the YouTuber. The power of Youtube has developed at such a pace in recent years, a lot of the most famous celebrities in the world began their careers on Youtube. Most of them made their name by creating content for people like them and for them and it has generated a movement if you like. I have to admit, it does fill me with joy when I see people ‘like' me be successful by just being themselves because after all that isn’t that what life is all about?

Now you might be thinking, Paul, isn't that a biased way of thinking? You only support people like yourself? Here is how I would answer that. Humour me for a minute and play a quick game with me; I want you to close your eyes and imagine that at the start of next month you are going to have a new intern working for you and shadowing you with your aim to make them the next star of the company… Now think about what that intern looks like… their hair, their features, their clothes. Do they look and dress like you by any chance?

The reality is bias is not a white, middle-aged, middle-class man’s problem, it is an everybody problem. We all have #bias, it is a reality. We cannot change that but what we can do is interrupt it. So yes, it might be my affinity bias coming through that I’m filled with pride when I see young black men blowing up and becoming stars but I also support the fact that more and more diverse people are getting opportunities as well. Not just those that are ‘like’ me.

A platform like YouTube is extremely inclusive. You can find pretty much anything you want on YouTube and those creators can be themselves and appear however they want. There is no pressure from big companies to speak or dress in a certain way. They have a safe space where they are allowed to be their authentic self. So it's not surprise that has led to them being successful.

The #DEIagenda should not be about Diversity management; ‘we need more women or people of colour’ because that is a ‘some of them’ conversation which ironically creates exclusion. The DEI agenda is a conversation about Inclusion, because as we always tell our clients; if you plant the seed of inclusion, you will bear the fruit of diversity.

Workplace inclusion practitioners specialising in inclusion dialogues and data.

We work with our clients to embed inclusion into the culture of their organisations as both thinking, and design and delivery partners.

Inclusion in Workplace: The Centre for Inclusive Leadership