What Needs to Change About DEI — and What Doesn’t

As DEI work faces increasing scrutiny socially, politically, and legally, organizations are taking extra care to re-evaluate their DEI efforts. Leaders are right to consider change, not as a reaction to backlash, but to work toward a more accountable, transparent, and successful vision of what DEI could be. The author identifies three things that need to change: 1) Clumsy, jargon-heavy communication, 2) disconnected and decoupled DEI goals and programs, and 3) nonexistent or vanity DEI measurement. They also identify three things that should be maintained: 1) Responsiveness to broader society, 2) commitment to healthy organizations, and 3) the belief that we can be better.