Focus on Creating Useful Outcomes, Not Changing Hearts and Minds

Abstract

Some DEI programs focus on changing attitude, an approach which complex, ineffective, and short-lived. Organizations can focus on the actual behaviors they want by setting specific behavioral goals (e.g., collaboration, communication), and by promoting social norms to meet them. In a climate where many are suspicious of or resistant to DEI goals, it can be strategically effective to focus on the behavioral outcomes rather than controversial labels. When social norms become part of an organization’s culture, the y tend to persist, and often without further enforcement or training. DEI goals can promote a better place to work and a better place to live.