Tired of “privilege walks” and black squares on social media that feel hollow? Workplace inclusion expert Y-Vonne Hutchinson peels back the superficial layer of performative DEI to reveal a fresh approach that meets people’s real-life anxieties — from climate chaos to political instability — and helps us connect with compassion and respect. It’s a spark of optimism for anyone looking to replace empty gestures with thoughtful, practical solutions that actually make a difference.For a chance to give your own TED Talk, fill out the Idea Search Application: ted.com/ideasearch.Interested in learning more about upcoming TED events? Follow these links:TEDNext: ted.com/futureyouTEDSports: ted.com/sportsTEDAI Vienna: ted.com/ai-viennaTEDAI San Francisco: ted.com/ai-sf Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu. The term DEI is probably more contentious than ever right now, but it's worth reminding ourselves, what do we actually mean when we say DEI?
Workplace inclusion expert Yvonne Hutchinson has spent her entire career thinking about the very real world implications of the words diversity, equity, and inclusion. Wyvon lays out why certain aspects of DEI are more effective than others and why for it to work, you've got to do more than just talk the talk.
OK. Let's do a little exercise. Everybody stand up and line up in the middle of the room. Actually, no, just me. Just me. OK. Step forward if you went to private school. Step back if you got called a racial slur in elementary school. Step forward if your parents graduated from college, step back if they didn't graduate high school. This is called a privilege walk.
It's a popular DEI exercise taught to express the concept of privilege. The people in the front get some revelation about how many advantages they have, while the people in the back get to process their trauma. I hate privilege walks, just like I hate black squares on Instagram, allyship pins, unconscious bias training, because it's performative.
The stuff doesn't work, but it's what sticks in our brains when we talk about DEI. DEI, or diversity, equity, and inclusion, refers to the set of tools that organizations use to prevent discrimination, comply with civil rights laws, and create environments more welcoming to people from marginalized backgrounds.
I run ReadySet, one of the country's largest DEI firms, and I started it after working for a toxic organization for years. And I often talk about the academic reasons why I started ReadySet, but in reality, I started it because I was traumatized, and I didn't want anyone to go through what I had been through. Now we're in the middle of a DEI backlash.
DEI has been blamed for everything from airplane failures to internet outages to you name it. And I often get approached by journalists wanting me to talk about it. But I struggle because I'm conflicted. On the one hand, the discrimination that people like me face hasn't gone away. On the other hand, now it's up for the debate.
On the one hand, DEI has become a political football, but that doesn't mean it's immune from criticism. To me, there are two reasons for the backlash. The first of which is that backlash is just a natural consequence to progress. Reagan-era lawsuits were a response to civil rights laws. This is no different.
On the other hand, people and organizations made real mistakes after the MeToo and George Floyd movements. DEI became performative. They used approaches based in emotion rather than data. They tried to solve systemic problems with individual solutions. They failed. And today, the world is changing. It affects my team.
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