I’m sure you’re a nice person
I’m sure you’re a nice person. Just as everybody else. Even if social media might make us believe otherwise, in the end, most people are quite decent. I believe. They have friends, family and colleagues who value them. Or at the very least don’t think they are horrible.
Then, why on earth, are we as a society so horrible? Why are we celebrating #IWD or #BHM or #earthday, speaking about how much we care and signaling everyone out there:
hey, I know it’s fucked up, but I’m not part of the problem #goodperson,
while at the same time we have failed to make meaningful progress for years in any of these matters?
Nice people ≠ nice society
I think it is because of a fundamental misconception about the root causes of inequality, discrimination and exploitation. Sexism, racism or environmental destructionism are never individual phenomena, caused by lost souls who hate women, minorities or the planet. They are societal habits, perpetuated also by nice people who add banners to their profile pictures and use hashtags.
Just take gender equality in Germany as example: despite an anti-discriminatory law passed in 2006 and a much older constitution claiming equality as basis of our democracy, the reality in 2021 is infuriatingly different. Sexual harrassment and gender-based discrimination is still a daily routine for many women, ranging from the different way a team lead talks with the boys to blunt objectification, lack of appreciation or actual crimes. The result is a visible gender-insert anything here-gap, 15 years after we as a society decided to, legally, put an end to discrimination.
Are we making progress? In some areas, certainly. Is it still possible for parties and companies to undermine efforts for a more equal, just and sustainable world, deliberately or not? Definitely. Are these same parties and companies posting about #IWD, #BHM and #earthday as well? Bet on it. I’m honestly tired of reading about the same ‘commitments to DEI’, ‘corporate sustainability initiatives’ or ‘equal opportunity hiring’ everywhere. Nobody cares about a #goodcompany statement, if the reality is the exact opposite.
Pretend it’s money
A thought experiment I love is just replacing diversity/equality/sustainability with money or profit in such statements.
We are committed to earn money.
We want to be part of the fight against unprofitable business practices and will stop wasting money by 2050.
On our way to a no no-profit company, we have invited all employees to share their thoughts on how we can start earning money going forward.
These statements sound ridicolous. No investor or shareholder would accept vague promises instead of real numbers or a concrete strategy. But when it comes to diversity or inclusion or sustainability or other non-money topics we so often just get that — vague promises, but no data or strategy.
It is quite fascinating to observe how companies report hundreds of metrics on money each quarter, but often don’t even measure (or think about meaningful ways to measure) how women, minorities or people with disabilities are discriminated at the workplace. They don’t measure how their products affect people and our planet along the value chain. And they certainly don’t report it. Executives have been trained for decades to make data-driven decisions to increase profit but seemingly believe having the right attitude is enough when it comes to everything else. This mental stretch is unbelievable and dangerous.
Keep posting. Keep being nice. Start calling out bullshit.
Sharing what you believe in is great. If you believe our future needs to be more diverse, more equal and more sustainable, even better. But we must understand believing is just not enough.
It is not enough to have the right intentions, it is not enough to be a nice person. We need to work hard to establish a discussion focused on outcomes, data and facts instead of pretty pictures, vague promises and hashtags that are meaningless without clear action. This discussion needs to happen within every relationship, every family, every team, every organization and our society as a whole.
So please keep posting, please keep being nice, please keep having all the right intentions. But start calling out everyone who is ‘committed to diversity’ or ‘wants to become more sustainable’ without matching these claims with data-driven action. Oh and most importantly, let’s never be this person again ourselves.
