"What's Your Blind Spot?" -- An Event
I attended an outstanding event yesterday, “What’s Your Blind Spot", that was pulled together by Oracle’s Diversity and Inclusion team (Director, Barbara Williams Hardy) and moderated by Oracle’s Howard Solomon.
Typically cynical of overtures made and the lip service paid by global corporations to this important topic, I attended this prompted by a desire to see if the tone in Silicon Valley was changing, particularly given the recent spotlight thrown on the lack of diversity in the Valley workplaces. (And also the recent caricature of Silicon Valley made by author Michael Lewis felt grating.)
Why the spotlight on this place (when diversity and inclusion is a global issue) and why the distorted perception of the Valley would take too long to discuss. But perhaps curiosity about what make this place tick like it does, as well as an expectation of new social frontier.
What follows is a personal view (and there were many who attended the event yesterday) — I can sense the winds of change and wanted to write about this particular experience.
The event started with lunchtime discussions about the topic, with a facilitator at each table, a sort of warming up. This was followed by a keynote by Oracle CEO Safra Catz. Instead of corporate spiel, Safra immediately launched into a personal anecdote, her experience as a child transplanted from Israel, grappling with the new land. Her message was simple and eloquent. “Bring you best game and your whole game.” “Together does not mean we have to be the same.” Those were just a few of the phrases. She talked about how it was to work for Larry Ellison, who "does not see the box at all”. It was an exhortation to dispense with the box. It’s the way people say things that matter — her style was personal and appealing.
What followed was new and thought provoking. It resonated a lot with my core beliefs about how humans process information. I can frankly say that if large corporations have not heard Rosalyn Taylor-O’Neale speak on the topic of human blindspots, they should. Rosalyn, the author of “Seven Keys To Success: Unlocking The Passion For Diversity”, launched into this topic with a unique and engaging sense of humor. The human tendency to form snap judgments (fast brain thinking: fit, tribe, etc) can lead to blindspots (by not giving a chance for slow brain thinking: history, circumstances, etc). Her unique sense of humor made her approach difficult and emotional topics with ease — which is really an art. With videos and anecdotes, she urged creating "constructive uncertainty” — i.e. to leave things open — to avoid snap judgments and also as a way to allow the “slow brain” (more rational) thinking to kick in.
After that a panel comprised of senior leaders at Oracle (Juan Jones, Cindy Reese, Steven Wolfe Periera — the panel moderator), Wells Fargo (Lisa Robbins) and Rosalyn (mentioned above) discussed diversity and inclusion. To show diversity in senior leadership is an important step toward corporate credibility about diversity and inclusion and the panel seemed to represent that (and reinforce the image left by Safra Catz). Again avoiding corporate spiel, these leaders went in for more personal perspectives about their experiences. It was not about success and a job well done but the road ahead and personal commitment and even some inward peering. I personally found this approach and their candor refreshing. They also discussed the business imperative for change and the difficulty. Lisa, for example, highlighted the generational shift approaching that treats diversity and inclusion as natural and will wonder what this fuss is all about.
The last session was an important one — a call to action — by Freada Kapor Klein of the Level Playing Field Institute. She cited sobering figures on the education side to show what lay ahead as challenges from the point of starting early, also what make and do not make a difference as indicators. And common reasons in corporation for talent erosion (loss of identity, being passed over, being used as symbols for outreach, and basic unfairness). She gave a multi-point program for change, very practical suggestions (e.g. such as using the Rooney rule to keep the candidate pool diverse, encouraging experiments that reduce snap judgments being made, using tech to flag bias and so on).
The event wrapped up shortly after that.
I was impressed with this event for the reasons above: voice of the CEO; expert views like Rosalyn and Freada; the visible voice of the corporate officers, and meeting people passionate about the topic.
“What is Your Blind Spot?” is a conversation that needs to happen more.