A long time ago as an early-career statistician, I had a manager who, to this day, shapes my view of what an analytics leader should be. In the late 1990s, Peter Yribar was my boss’s boss at Warner Lambert Parke Davis in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Employed in pharma as a kind of statistical auditor, I reviewed the work of other scientists for statistical accuracy and effective communication. Pete gave me my first experience working with upper management.
Expressing the best of diversity, equity, and inclusion before the term was invented, Pete did it all without thinking about it. Never with an explicit program or strategy, he believed people should simply be treated fairly. This taught me a lesson I have never forgotten: Doing the right thing in the workplace is so powerful that, if we had never heard of it before, we would invent it because it creates powerful, high-performing teams. Pete didn’t have a DEI program; he was simply a DEI person who always saw the best in others. Thirty years later, I strive to be a leader of the same mold.
All around us, DEI is being challenged as never before. Under pressure to maintain government contracts and serve customers supporting the new administration, companies are discontinuing DEI programs. Yet, the science of diversity remains unchanged. According to Forbes writer Ron Carucci, diverse, inclusive teams perform better. They achieve this through being smarter, more innovative, and forming stronger bonds among coworkers.
DEI programs began as a way to hire the best people without regard to immutable characteristics of identity completely unrelated to merit. Despite this, some organizations have engaged in “diversity theater”: talking about DEI without empowering it. These corporations, agencies, and universities are now rushing to adopt new practices that could push away large numbers of students, customers, and high-performing employees.
There is still an opportunity for those who see the benefits of just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive practices. It is possible to navigate a middle road between the elimination of DEI programs and defiance of anti-diversity initiatives. One avenue is renaming programs after the benefits DEI provides or folding them into existing programs. Initiatives for employee and student retention include welcoming people from diverse backgrounds. Changing key metrics from DEI numbers to new standards measuring innovation through peer-reviewed research and patents can only be achieved by creating and sustaining an inclusive workplace. The higher profitability resulting from DEI supports all conventional performance metrics.
Some organizations have removed labels from documents and websites to focus on one-on-one human interactions, where DEI is practiced. Technical recruiting is a particularly good example of the middle road in DEI, working one-on-one with interested parties to make clear the company’s support for a diverse and inclusive work environment.
Another important channel is personal networks—powerful webs of connections between fellow advocates to effectively drive positive outcomes for the most vulnerable.
Finding and cultivating middle roads creates safe spaces that support effective avenues for justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion amid all the challenges we face today. The timeless truth is that talent doesn’t have a race, innovation doesn’t have a gender, and genius speaks in every language. This truth empowers us to find new avenues to including and valuing all people as we press onward toward a brighter future.
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