The duck syndrome in dei

“I guess we’re doing great, no one is complaining!”

…is what I hear sometimes when I ask #leadership about employees’ perception of inclusion in different organizations.

I was recently reminded about the Duck Syndrome Effect that perfectly describes this situation.

It occurs when group of employees seem to be calm, compliant and content with the current state of DEI but in reality, underneath the surface – they paddle furiously and work hard in order to:

🔹fit in
🔹suppress stress of being in minority and experiencing microaggressions
🔹manage the feeling of lack of belonging

…and other

Just because something is not verbalized, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. There may just be no safe way to express it.

As DEI practitioners in our organizations, we are responsible for making a conscious effort to identify “the ducks” by asking ourselves questions:

What groups make extra effort to remain calm to fit in?

Who is forced to underplay some parts of their identity to feel they belong?

Are we really open to embrace feedback on our DEI programs and do we provide safe channels for that?