Riding the DEI Roller Coaster
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If you’ve practiced in diversity, equity, inclusion or any other blocks of the justice alphabet in your career, you have ridden the DEI Roller Coaster. In this post I share about my ride, and give you some tips on riding for safety and impact.
We’re facing another cycle of news about the demise of DEI in corporations, organizations, education and beyond, and if you are on the side of equity, antiracism, inclusion, diversity, belonging and the rest of the justice alphabet, then buckle up, because we’re about to take another stomach-dropping plunge on the DEI roller coaster!
[Disclaimer: some of you really love roller coasters. You love the thrill that comes with the drop, the dive, the disorientation, the whip, the flip, the dip – you’re here for all of it and the terror. If that’s you and this post makes you wanna jump into some DEI for the pure joy of it – please see me after class, I’ll hook up another metaphor for you.]
Personally, I don’t go out of my way to find roller coasters. I tolerate them about once a year with my kids, and then I’m done with it. I do briefly enjoy the collision of fear and excitement. What I didn’t exactly plan for is that a core component of my career journey would be ridden on a roller coaster. And if like me your career has been in or adjacent to DEI, or you have actively or reactively engaged DEI in the workplace, you have found yourself on the DEI roller coaster.
I have been on quite a few cycles of this ride. Not as long as those who have been on the ride for decades, through the Civil Rights era or before. Others of you have just gotten on this ride for the first time. But we’re all feeling the effects. Many of us are proud of the achievement of making it through bravely. Some of us are feeling the pain of whiplash. Some have gotten off the ride cause it’s simply going too fast, or they’re getting sick of those bumpy wooden rails, and they’ve reached their limit. Some have no choice to ride because of their gender, skin color, visible disability or gender identity. As a black man, I have found myself riding the roller coaster even at times I did not intend.
Some ride the DEI roller coaster looking past the current rise, drop or loop to see the coming twists and turns coming ahead clearly and to brace themselves. Others are calmly enjoying the smooth ride up and then pass a small signpost that says “DEI must DIE,” and they quickly realize that for every climb to the top there’s a race to the bottom.
By June 2020 those of us in or around DEI inside our organizations found ourselves on that ride to the top, with loops and sudden turns and other obstacles removed, all at the expense of the life of George Floyd, whose murder proved to be a tipping point in the national awareness of racial injustice. Companies set racial equity goals and backed them not only with money but with accountable goals.
At Google as head of Procurement ESG I found myself executing the largest DEI resource grant of my 15 years there for Supplier Diversity, and helping to steer a company-wide program around racial equity and economic equity that addressed most all of the areas that I considered pipedream investments in previous years. Venture capital; community-based digital skills transformation; HBCU and HSI investment and other areas became intentionally focused on closing equity gaps.
Early on during this ride to the top I shared concern with a white woman executive in our organization (with little experience in managing for DEI or racial equity) that we needed to prepare to defend new racial equity resources in our upcoming corporate budgeting cycle. Maybe not for 2020, but certainly for 2021. She was stunned, and assured me that our leadership was deeply committed to DEI and that the present situation was evidence of long-term resolve. Nonetheless, I said, the time will come when we’ll be on the other side of this roller coaster, and people will forget us and/or fight us, and we’ll need to be ready for that day.
It turns out that I was wrong – by a year. People in organizations across America dedicated to various DEI outcomes – whether across people programs like most, or across business and product outcomes like me and most of my industry colleagues – we survived 2021 as an unshaken priority, but the June 2022 Supreme Court decision on University Affirmative Action signaled our reaching the very top of the ride. Now, here in early 2024, we have thrown our hands in the air and are back in the wind of uncertain commitments.
Beyond the chatter about DEI’s demise, you can see companies who previously committed to annual reporting have published their diversity reports irregularly or stopped altogether. Some have abandoned “diversity,” and “DEI” and in its place are using the terms “belonging,” “justice,” and “social impact,” all terms that have place and space but in these contexts are being used by corporate communications to avoid trolling. Because like “Diversity” before it “DEI” and its component terms and their meanings are being weaponized and corrupted to avoid people doing the work that matters to ensure that historical marginalization is not perpetuated in the organizations of the future. We are in another cycle of that threatens to take diversity, inclusion and equity “off the table.” This playbook of systemic racism has a design that is just as intentional as that of the most thrilling roller coasters.
Okay, you’re still here, that means you’ve decided to ride. You and I may be strangers but we’ve been strapped in next to each other for this ride. I’m looking over at you, and you’re a little worried – I can tell. Listen, you’re going to be okay. I haven’t been on this exact ride before but I’ve been on a few in this park, and I have a few rail-tested ways of surviving and maybe even thriving.
How to ride the DEI roller coaster for safety & impact:
Ride with purpose. Know why you’re riding, and keep that knowledge top of mind as you go through daily ups and downs. When you ride with your purpose at hand you’ll be more resilient to challenge;
Your health & mental well-being is your harness. If you’re riding you must take care of your own safety first, and that includes attending to your physical health, stress, anxiety and more. I personally wouldn’t be ready to ride without my daily workout routine and weekly therapy, for starters;
Ride with friends. With trusted colleagues by your side you’re more likely to focus on the positives of pursuing adventure with friends, than the negatives of doing hard things alone;
Ride with mentors. When I ride real coasters next to my children it tells them that they are safe and let’s them focus on the positive. Your mentors and coaches will help you do the same in your pursuit of DEI;
Ride in the back. You don’t always have to be first in. You’ll ride the same ride, but there’s comfort in seeing the pack in front of you from time-to-time. And;
Ride in the front. Courage is calling. Pick some times to bravely ride up in the front, lead others behind you, and face every turn fearlessly;
Take breaks. You have a long career. You don’t need to ride every attraction in this park. Pick and choose the ones that matter most;
When possible, enjoy the experience. If you are centering DEI in your career, whether for a week or for the long haul, you decided to show up here. If your purpose is clear, find ways to enjoy this ride. The thrill can be scary, but it can also be fun and rewarding to know that you forged character and helped others.
At the end of the day, the failing of this roller coaster metaphor is that “DEI” – or whatever other safe enough corporate-speak we land on in the coming years – is no joyride. Not for those who choose to ride, nor especially those forced to ride by virtue of being in “out” groups. Not for those who have lost and are about to lose their jobs. Not for those who will pay the ultimate price of losing lives and loved ones to hate and injustice. You know this because you’re in it and committed. Please take care of yourself, be with friends and commit to leading and following in the principles of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. I’ll be right next to you.
– Chris Genteel
If you’re a business leader riding this tough cycle in DEI, contact Glidelane to see how we can help.