Leda Writes for Fintech Futures: Diversity absolutes and the absurdity of decency by design

Every Thursday, Leda Glyptis, 11:FS Chief of Staff creates #LedaWrites. This week she turns her attention to why diversity and inclusion shouldn’t be a standalone activity and why you shouldn’t just protect your stars, you should protect everyone.

For some reason, diversity and inclusion has become a standalone activity. The core of the business keeps working while committees and panels consider how to bring diversity into the company. It’s not working. Diversity isn’t about gender, race and middle-class upbringings. It’s about decision-making informed by lived experience, different points of view and being reflective of the customers you serve.

Looking around a room and seeing diversity is always a start. But make sure it’s real diversity too. Not just coercing others into behaving in familiar and comfortable patterns. Right now, diversity is achieved by looking different but behaving the same, it’s running away from new ideas, uncomfortable realisations and challenging views in boardrooms.

Real diversity isn’t just focused on hiring people other than the middle-class white male. It’s about diversifying behaviour to deliver better products, better services and produce ever greater client value. Creating real diversity at your company is hard. Hiring people who are different from you, people who will challenge you and who you’ll learn from is both time-consuming and non-linear. And most importantly, it challenges the old power dynamics that create false diversity.

Diversity isn’t about the photo-op and a glossy prospectus showing off how diverse your workforce is. It’s about outcomes. And taking on-board the people who will help you keep your company changing along with the world.

Read the full story at Fintech Futures.