The privileged white dude’s intro to diversity and inclusion

Why it’s not ok to sit back and hope the problem goes away

If you’re reading this you care enough to be curious — that’s a good start. Or you’re going to flame me — that’s a less good start but at least I have your attention. I’m writing this in the hope that people out there read it and realise that they have a moral obligation to educate themselves. I’m writing it despite the risk of getting it wrong or upsetting those who think there isn’t a problem. In the former case please tell me how to better express myself — help me fill in my blanks. In the latter case, the paradox of tolerance means I don’t have to lose sleep over your insecurity. Either way there was a lot of fear before I hit publish on this story.

I’ll start with why you should care about it. Diverse teams achieve better business outcomes. Diverse teams make better decisions. Inclusive environments retain and attract more people from broader backgrounds. It’s in your interest to care before you even get to the moral point that a fair society gives everyone the same opportunities. If you look at the privileged minority in charge of both the USA and the UK then it’s clear we don’t live in a meritocracy.

Privilege can mean lots of things. It could be gender. It could be race. It could be sexual orientation. It could be…