Diversity, inclusion and equity just because you're a diverse organization doesn't necessarily mean you are an inclusive organization. Being equitable does not actually equate to being equal or equity is not equality. Equity for me is about examination and evaluation.
Hello Doctor E. Here. Hope you are doing well. Going to finish up our acronym series of DEI with the last letter. From my vantage point, and how I approach the diversity, equity and inclusion work, and how I actually understand fundamentally the diversity, equity and inclusion effort. If you remember in the outset of this series, I let you know, I actually believe diversity, then inclusion, and then equity. So my understanding and approach actually ends or leads to equity, and it begins with the combination of diversity and inclusion.
I believe equity is that in and of itself, a combination of diversity, inclusion. You can be a diverse organization and not necessarily be an inclusive organization. You can practice diversity, you can approach inclusion, and you can really not care about equitable efforts or being an equitable organization. So what is equity? In my humble opinion, equity is simply the evaluation and the examination of what's fair. How do you look at the outcomes? How do you look at the steps that are leading to the outcomes?
And how do you begin to peel back, break down, fundamentally unpack what is happening and isn't happening in the manner in which you desire? And if it isn't, how do you go about changing processes, practices, and maybe even policies to hopefully align with the outcomes and the measures that you're hoping for? One of the things that I always try to highlight to folks is being equitable does not actually equate to being equal or equity is not equality. You will see tons of photographs, tons of characterizations, tons of pictures that will show you what equity looks like versus what equality looks like.
For some, that's a really, really hard pill to swallow, really tough concept to kind of capture and imagine. But think about it like this. None of us are the same. None of us come to organizations with the same experiences, the same expectations, the same needs, the same wants. So how do we, as an organization, as a team, as a leader, as a department, how do we begin to approach and engage each of our members, each of our colleagues, in ways that actually aligns, builds them up in the manner in which they need, from the manner in which they exist.
That's what equity looks like, and that's what equity entails. If you can think about what a person needs, what a person has in terms of capacity, and then how to build both up, you can then see where and how everyone might be different, and so folks might not need the same thing at the same time, in the same way. And that becomes the examination and the evaluation of what we can do, how we can go about doing it, and what makes it most appropriate, given any types of circumstances and situations.
I also want leaders to get into the habit and the practice and the practice of not just examining and evaluating a specific act, but what are the ripples or the ripple effect of that actual, what are some of the second, 3rd, 4th tier kinds of ramifications and implications of decisions and the results of those? And as you start to take some of that into consideration, you can also begin to think about what might be equitable further down the line, as you begin to examine other steps in the process, other structures as they align with other ways that you're thinking about doing things, and then other habits and practices that you might be doing, both in a micro way, but then also in a macro way.
So equity for me is about examination and evaluation. As you begin to examine and evaluate, you can also begin to take into account the impact and the results of what you're doing and making sure those impacts and those results are aligning with your desires and what you're hoping and the intent of what you're approaching and trying to do. So, diversity, inclusion and equity just because you're a diverse organization doesn't necessarily mean you are an inclusive organization. And though you might be a diverse organization, and an inclusive organization doesn't necessarily mean you are practicing equity.
Think about that. In that way, fundamentally, you'll understand what equity, diversity and inclusion are and how they align. And hopefully, moving forward, you can begin to see how you can start to really compartmentalize what you might be doing constructively or what you might not be doing constructively in each area. I'm doctor e and I'll see you soon.
