“We’ve never had complaints about discrimination. Why fix what isn’t broken?”

„I don’t think inequality exists here. We always hire the best person for the job.”

„I’ve always judged people based on their work, not their gender.”

Does it sound familiar to you?

This is the DEI Resistance Trio: defending, denying and distancing – the last one occurring when people are willing to acknowledge that there is inequality, but they distance themselves from it personally, by arguing that they themselves are unbiased and have never benefited from discrimination.*

How to approach this trio?

My first step is to reframe (for myself) what I hear. Some people experience changes that DEI brings as a status, merit or moral threat. What they say is most of the time not an attack on DEI, it’s fear and as such, it needs to be understood and diffused, not ridiculed and minimized.

Here are some suggestions for that I’ve been using in re-framing the picture. They worked for lowering the perceived threat during workshops, individual talks and meetings with leaders that are skeptical about the need for DEI.

What are other examples of the Resistance Trio and what are your ways to approach it? Please share in the comments.  

*More: HBR “To Overcome Resistance to DEI, Understand What’s Driving It” by Eric Shuman, Eric Knowles and Amit Goldenberg