159. Everyday People (Condition #8: Demographics)

It’s been a bunch of months since I realized that there’s a really strong overlap between good governance and equity, diversity & inclusion. For a refresher of what I’m talking about, listen back to episode 113. ED&I and good governance may not be identical, but maybe a good way to put it is that you can’t be intentional about cultivating effective conditions for making decisions without being intentional about ED&I. Many people are still quick to point out that diversity of demographic characteristics like race, ethnicity, age, gender, and socioeconomic status among MANY others, won’t guarantee diversity of thought and perspective. My first response to that is “are you *sure* about that?” My more thoughtful response is that even if it’s not a guarantee, it definitely is a shortcut. I mean, a room full of people who look completely different from each other is more likely to have meaningful diversity of thought than a room full of people who look the same. Think of demographic diversity as a diversity of thought hack. Anyway, if good governance is impossible without ED&I, and the diversity part of ED&I is a condition that we have control over, then it’s clear why it belongs in our list this season. This may be one of the more complex conditions because it involves investment in building a community, which takes time. We also have to be conscious of tokenizing and other challenges we might encounter in doing the *inclusion* part of ED&I well. But don’t try to tell me that you have no way to be intentional about demographic diversity in your organization, your executive team, your boardroom, because…well, come on.