Is pride blocking progress? Take our D.E.I. Quiz and find out!

Welcome to Simply Diversity. This bimonthly letter breaks down key diversity concepts and explains how you can apply them... simply. There are plenty of terms heard ‘round the Internet as we prioritize diversity, inclusion and belonging in everything we do. This newsletter explains what these concepts are, why they’re important, and how to practice them. 

I’m going to come out and say it: I believe people have the desire and the motivation to tackle diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at their workplaces. But…

The majority don’t know how. 

Enter Rework Work’s new D.E.I Quiz.

Break it down: 

In my work with organizations, I often use the five orientations of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) framework. While it is a powerful tool, my years of experience have identified a need for additional nuance around how these five orientations work in teams. 

That’s what our new D.E.I. Quiz reveals. 

We’ve worked with many individuals who clearly need help tackling DEI, and unfortunately have too much pride to ask for or accept help. These individuals (no matter their IDI orientation) tend to become roadblocks on their teams. They believe the risk of acknowledging a need for help is too great to bear — instead of an understandable human need, it feels like a threat. 

As you can imagine, these individuals are difficult for an external DEI expert to work with, much less their own team members! 

I can vividly remember a client who fit this profile. She was head of DEI* at her organization, and her job was to approve Rework’s method of DEI training within her organization. 

Our initial assessment revealed that this DEI leader needed help. Instead of taking that feedback in and learning from it, she decided it meant our process was “ineffective” because it must be the process, not the subject. 

It actually meant she needed help to be effective — but she lacked that self-awareness. And because she felt threatened and couldn’t admit she had work to do, she ended up blocking her whole organization from the opportunity to progress.

*(It must be said that despite her leadership role, she was not granted the level of influence she needed to be effective, which likely contributed to her feeling threatened. Unfortunately we see this often with DEI leaders — they have an authoritative title, but little power to make change.)

Do Something Different:

We must be open to the idea that we need help — and that it’s a good thing to ask for and accept help. Addressing DEI at work is like any other skill: you need to be aware of what you know so far and what you need to learn.

Start with our new, free D.E.I. Quiz. 

It’s an awareness builder (not a personality assessment!) and reveals where you’re being effective, and where you could benefit from additional learning and practice — in other words, help. It will get you thinking about how you’re showing up and interacting with others in your workplace. 

A tech company leader I met with recently asked me, “how do you help others on your team become aware they may not be acting as objectively and as unbiased as they think?” I love this question because it is one reason we created the D.E.I.Q: individuals need external help to identify blind spots. 

Our quiz will give you the concrete next steps to do what you have the desire and motivation to tackle: improve your ability to address DEI in the workplace. 

After you take it (it’s short!), let me know in the comments: what did it reveal? How did it impact your self-awareness or thinking? 

About Stacey Gordon and Rework Work:

Stacey Gordon is Executive Advisor and Diversity Strategist of Rework Work where she and her team coach and counsel executive leaders on DEI strategies for business, while offering a no-nonsense approach to unconscious bias education for the broader employee population. Stacey’s unconscious bias course was the most popular course on LinkedIn Learning platform in 2021 and it has also been translated into multiple languages. Stacey is also the founder and host of the Rework Work Community, a free diversity, equity, and inclusion learning and practice space for professionals. You can find Stacey’s book, UNBIAS: Addressing Unconscious Bias at Work, at Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, and wherever books are sold.