Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Deconstructed | Lily Zheng | 470

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are problems that require long term work in order to provide long term impact. So, why do companies keep seeking "quick fixes" and flashy solutions that just won't work? To understand the issues the industry is facing in DEI, and the hard work needed to change organizations, we've invited Lily Zheng to join us. Lily is a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion speaker, strategist, and organizational consultant. Recently, they wrote DEI Deconstructed: Your No-Nonsense Guide to Doing the Work and Doing It Right, a definitive foundational text for critically analyzing and applying actionable DEI techniques and strategies. DEI is an ongoing issue for most organizations, so it's baffling to think of it as a subject that ebbs and flows with trends. Lily explains why this continues to happen, and the dangers it poses to the long term success of DEI in the workplace. We learn that there are no short term fixes or hacks to solving the problem. It's going to take hard data and hard work to concretely change the way people think and act. Lily further shares how they help companies assess their workforce and understand what is going on beneath the surface. By collecting data on employee engagement, retention, promotion rates, and access to opportunity, Lily is able to get a clear picture of the problems the company is facing and provide solutions that change culture in a lasting manner. With so few best-practices and many underdeveloped strategies out there, Lily took it upon themselves to literally write the book on DEI. Today, they share how they hope the book can teach companies to hold themselves accountable, and also provide a critical resource for budding practitioners in the industry. Three Key Takeaways: * Complex problems such as DEI don't have quick fixes. It's the nature of the beast. * Thought leadership is a way to up-skill your audience, allowing those who work with you to "skip the baby steps" and spend more time on the hard stuff. * Data has to be the core of problem solving. You can't provide a solution, when you don't understand the problem.