DEI dominoes

Here we are again. The latest excuse for companies to de-prioritize or even cancel DEI. If you want to, there’s always a reason to. A global pandemic to manage through. A war somewhere. A new President and his billionaire supporters who don’t believe in it/are threatened by it.

And so, as always, the wobbly dominoes start to fall and DEI programs and positions start to get pulled.

But here’s the thing: these dominoes were always wobbly. These are the companies who never got it. These are the companies who only had a DEI program because the Board had it on their scorecard, or because it was a clear trend their corporate reputation couldn’t afford for them to be seen to be missing out on. They never really understood the power of DEI, the business driving power of having and fully leveraging a diverse organization, versus the limitations and business risk of non-diverse, dominant culture.

DEI isn’t a trend, it is a strategy. It is probably the most impactful business strategy a company can have that has the potential to grow a business by over 20% per year. The smart leaders know this. So the smart companies won’t walk away from the important work to drive equality, diversity and inclusion because of a trend created on social media by the rich boys who own it. The smart ones are rolling their eyes and staying focused on their strategies. And looking forward to picking up some easy business and profits from the wobbly dominoes who don’t get it and follow the latest external trend.

The solid dominoes will stick to their strategy. These are the smart companies to back and stay with. Run a mile from the rest as they tumble and fall.