Shifting into a more proactive approach to building a compassionate, inclusive, and resilient culture
Hi again everyone!
I recently had a conversion with a client about the limitations and strain of always being in reactive mode. This person shared how they are so busy and overwhelmed, how everything feels equally important, and how they are experiencing despair that the mountain of inequities they are working to address never seems to get smaller. This is such a common phenomenon in diversity, equity, and inclusion work, and something that we hear about from our clients all the time! One of the most common things we hear in inquiry calls is a version of “we’ve tried so many things over the years and nothing seems to be working!” or “there’s so much to do, we don’t know where to start.”
When we are constantly in reactive mode - putting out fires everywhere - we are often working very hard and expending lots of energy without fully understanding the root causes of the issues we are trying to address. As a result we may be putting all that energy towards a less impactful solution. Also, when our plates are constantly full with the immediate needs right in front of us we do not have the opportunity to step back and view the entire system that is at play. We may mistake the forest for the trees (we love a forest analogy!) or the symptom for the cause.
Some of this is by design. One of the characteristics of white predatory culture (we prefer this term to white supremacy culture, because of the conflict in terms that “white supremacy” is. Meaning the word supremacy does not accurately describe the full impact and lived experiences) is urgency. Urgency keeps us working hard, often spinning our wheels, with little opportunity to slow down and reassess. The human brain is not designed to sustain at this level of stress, and so we start to experience negative emotional and health impacts. Sadly, this can lead to hopelessness, apathy, and ultimately disengaging from equity and justice work all together.
Have you ever experienced overwhelm, burnout, and negative emotional, mental, and/or physical health impacts from being in “reactive mode” for a prolonged period of time?
What approaches to making more space to “see the forest through the trees” do you use in your practice?
When we encounter clients who say, “we’ve tried so many things over the years and nothing seems to be working!” or “we’ve addressed what people are asking for and they’re still upset, we don’t understand!” It's a good clue to us that there are deeper needs that may not yet be fully identified or understood by the organization's leaders. Importantly, it is often also the case that people with identities that have been marginalized have been saying what they need for a long time. But something is being lost in translation, and often a systemic way of addressing those important needs has not yet been implemented.
Cue Canopy’s Organizational Culture Assessment….
An Organizational Culture Assessment is an opportunity to deeply hear from employees about what’s working well and where needs are not yet being met. We hold focus groups, interviews, observe meetings, review documents, and administer an organization-wide survey to get to a deep level of understanding and root cause analysis of your organization's strengths and growth areas. As always we bring an equity lens to our assessment, thinking about where identity and lived experience is at play in any patterns that emerge. An Organizational Culture Assessment provides tangible examples, evidence, and language to support shared understanding that can then be implemented into meaningful changes.
Our clients tell us that the Organizational Culture Assessment resulted in a deeper and more complete understanding of their company and their employees, so they are clearer on what next steps to take. They also share that through the process of the Organizational Culture Assessment they learned how to ask the types of questions that get at root causes, and built capacity to hear responses with more openness and belief.
With the deeper understanding and recommendations from the Organizational Culture Assessment organizations can develop a roadmap for their next steps. It has taken generations to build the system we currently live and work in, and disrupting that system takes time and intention. Sometimes taking a step back is what’s needed to ensure your efforts and energy are being spent to address systemic needs proactively and in the way that is most impactful.
And let’s be clear. Being urgent and being strategic are not at odds with one another. We often tell our clients, you don’t have to wait for the report to start doing the work. As understanding emerges, get started! This can be messy and we get to keep struggling forward.
In what ways could your organization benefit from developing a deeper systems-level understanding of your employee’s needs?
What opportunities might be made available by a more proactive approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion work?
We'd love to hear about what's coming up for you and what gleanings you are leaving with. Send a note and let us know!
With love,
Naqibah, Debbie, and Tessa
