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The Necessary Journey: Making Real Progress on Equity and Inclusion
What does a workplace utopia look like to you?
This is the question Dr. Ella F. Washington asks companies, and often she hears about an ideal vision of an organization that values diversity and inclusion and wants employees to bring their whole selves to work.
Many organizations desire this ideal vision and know that it's a journey to get there—but still don't know what's required to make the journey. Organizations have largely missed the mark when it comes to creating environments where all employees thrive in an equal and equitable way, because they treat diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as a program that gets done rather than the necessary and difficult journey it is. A truly inclusive workplace requires invention and reinvention, mistakes and humility, adaptation to a changing world, constant self-reflection, and sometimes significant sacrifice.
The road to an inclusive workplace is a difficult one, but you can traverse it, and there's help along the way. Start here with stories of companies making the necessary journey, including Slack, Kaiser Permanente, and PwC. Hear from their leaders about their successes and failures, times they were on the vanguard, and the moments they realized they had much more work to do. These are profiles in perseverance from people who are keen enough to recognize the need for inclusive workplaces and humble enough to know they're not there yet.
Washington brings her years of experience as a DEI leader in multiple industries to give you a frame for thinking about where these companies are on their journey and where you may be, too. Progress is hard-won on the necessary journey to becoming an inclusive organization, but it must be won. John Lewis said it best: You see something you want to get done, you cannot give up, and you cannot give in.
This is the question Dr. Ella F. Washington asks companies, and often she hears about an ideal vision of an organization that values diversity and inclusion and wants employees to bring their whole selves to work.
Many organizations desire this ideal vision and know that it's a journey to get there—but still don't know what's required to make the journey. Organizations have largely missed the mark when it comes to creating environments where all employees thrive in an equal and equitable way, because they treat diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as a program that gets done rather than the necessary and difficult journey it is. A truly inclusive workplace requires invention and reinvention, mistakes and humility, adaptation to a changing world, constant self-reflection, and sometimes significant sacrifice.
The road to an inclusive workplace is a difficult one, but you can traverse it, and there's help along the way. Start here with stories of companies making the necessary journey, including Slack, Kaiser Permanente, and PwC. Hear from their leaders about their successes and failures, times they were on the vanguard, and the moments they realized they had much more work to do. These are profiles in perseverance from people who are keen enough to recognize the need for inclusive workplaces and humble enough to know they're not there yet.
Washington brings her years of experience as a DEI leader in multiple industries to give you a frame for thinking about where these companies are on their journey and where you may be, too. Progress is hard-won on the necessary journey to becoming an inclusive organization, but it must be won. John Lewis said it best: You see something you want to get done, you cannot give up, and you cannot give in.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published November 8, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 14, 2022
I have read many books on business which come off very condescending and assume the author knows everything there is to know on a subject. Luckily, Ella Washington's The Necessary Journey is not one of those books. It is thought-provoking and interesting without being patronizing.
The Necessary Journey looks at the importance of having a strong Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) program. Washington very smartly spends most of the book looking at specific instances of companies going through their DEI journey and speaking to the people instrumental in its initiation. It's an excellent way to show the reader the way as opposed to dictating the reasons DEI is so important. Washington writes like someone who found a new way to make your company better as opposed to scolding anyone who may disagree. This light touch is vital in making opponents of DEI give it a chance.
Washington does not avoid the hard questions, either. DEI is often seen as an "extra" which does not actually improve the bottom line. Washington does look at some numbers and explains how DEI does set a company up for success. While I would have liked some more analysis of the profits of the case studies, I still felt like Washington gets her point across.
This is an excellent book for someone who is interested in DEI and wants to start taking the necessary journey.
(This book was provided to me as an advance copy by Netgalley and Harvard Business Review Press. All opinions are my own.)
The Necessary Journey looks at the importance of having a strong Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) program. Washington very smartly spends most of the book looking at specific instances of companies going through their DEI journey and speaking to the people instrumental in its initiation. It's an excellent way to show the reader the way as opposed to dictating the reasons DEI is so important. Washington writes like someone who found a new way to make your company better as opposed to scolding anyone who may disagree. This light touch is vital in making opponents of DEI give it a chance.
Washington does not avoid the hard questions, either. DEI is often seen as an "extra" which does not actually improve the bottom line. Washington does look at some numbers and explains how DEI does set a company up for success. While I would have liked some more analysis of the profits of the case studies, I still felt like Washington gets her point across.
This is an excellent book for someone who is interested in DEI and wants to start taking the necessary journey.
(This book was provided to me as an advance copy by Netgalley and Harvard Business Review Press. All opinions are my own.)
November 9, 2022
As both a scholar and consultant in the diversity space, I can emphatically say this book is a necessity. It provides an accessible understanding of what the DEI journey looks and feels like at various stages as well as tactical advice for how to advance DEI efforts. Most importantly though, it clarifies that the journey is ongoing. Even once you've reached the phase of sustainability, The Necessary Journey demands that organizations continue to evolve and be intentional about integrating DEI into everything they do. I am eager to share these insights with my MBA and EMBA students as well as the organizational leaders who seek my support in their DEI efforts. Very well done!
January 26, 2023
Attended an HBR Webinar with the author and made sure to pick up her book. Of the profiles, I thought Best Buy and Sodexo the most interesting and Infosys the least. I'm not a fan of her utopia question, but I am glad she provided her answer, which was well-phrased. I also appreciated her attempt to include some graphics per profile, but the company snapshot with its circles of influence at the end of wasn't useful to me. I sailed past each one when reading the book.
August 4, 2023
Great book for anyone looking to create change around them or within their organization. Also, great case studies about businesses that we know.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews