Examining Why DEI Efforts Often Fall Short and How to Foster Effective Change

“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” - Buckminster Fuller

What if I told you that most organizations’ DEI initiatives were doomed from the start? That their failure could have been predicted and even avoided?

Consider the difference between planting a seed in fertile, nutrient-rich soil and planting it in wet concrete. Which would you predict is most likely to grow? It’s pretty simple, right? And yet, this is what many organizations, institutions, and governments with DEI initiatives have done.

They planted seeds where they could not grow and then blamed the seed for not overcoming the sidewalk it was encased in. By doing so, they conveyed a false narrative that the very diversities that lead to flourishing in every other ecosystem in the world somehow don't work for humans. But often, when DEI efforts fail, it’s not because the seeds are faulty. It’s because the soil is. Until we face the fact that we have set these efforts up for failure and start giving these seeds what they truly need to thrive, we will never benefit from the promise of actualized relational potential across differences.

Unfortunately, most of us are too distracted by our own fears to see how DEI advocates and critics both perpetuate this cycle of ineffectiveness. Many of us who served in DEI-related roles, eager to accelerate social progress, were incapable of discerning what so-called opportunities were worth our time and sanity and which were not. Advocates fear the loss of progress, while critics fear the erosion of their identity status or the hopes that their investment in the status quo may someday work in their favor. But the reality is that fear cannot drive out fear; it only deepens divisions.

A skilled gardener knows that before planting, the weeds must be removed. Similarly, organizations must confront and clear away the root causes of resistance before expecting DEI initiatives to thrive. To ignore this is to engage in what Fuller calls “fighting the existing reality,” a strategy destined for failure.

The question then becomes: Why do so many organizations persist with approaches that don’t work?

In his work, The Denial of Death, psychologist Ernest Becker argues that much of human behavior is driven by the need to repress our awareness of mortality. In DEI contexts, this denial manifests as resistance to change, seeing diversity as a threat to identity, resources, or power. This is very evident in group dynamics, where people cling to their cultural or social identities like a life preserver, keeping them from drowning in this existential anxiety. And this fear is like a poison injected into the veins of most DEI efforts, rendering them incapacitated before they even started.

In essence, this means that for an organization to have a successful DEI initiative, it must be willing to face what will have to die in its previous expression for something greater to flourish. There is an old adage that says, “In order for the plant to grow, the seed must die.” This is a reality that innovative organizations not only accept but also embrace and strive to work with.

Regardless of whether you are focusing on technological innovation or relational innovation, to build a model that makes the existing one obsolete, organizations must confront these fears head-on. They must create environments where DEI efforts are nurtured by transparency, trust, and a willingness to engage in difficult conversations. In doing so, they not only create space for inclusion but also transform their culture into one capable of sustained, meaningful change.

In part two of this series, we will explore with more depth the resistance to this awareness as well as what possibilities exist for organizations that are willing to do the work to cultivate an environment that can truly realize the potential of DEI and its correlates.

This piece was inspired by a longer entry in the People Are Not Things Newsletter entitled, Deny Everything Infinitely (DEI) Part 1: The Very Predictable and Virtually Inevitable Fate of Most Corporate DEI Programs

Pedro Senhorinha (Sen-your-reen-ya) Silva has had a very storied career that expands from the United States Air Force where he served as a Satellite Communications Technician before cross-training to become a Chinese Linguist all the way to professional ministry serving with the progressive Christian denomination, the United Church of Christ. He has also served in a myriad of other capacities from corporate recruiter to Americorp Vista. And at the heart of every choice he has made, whether vocationally or educationally, is a deep desire to unite people.