Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist by Stephen Batchelor is a memoir of his journey from Buddhist monk to secular Buddhist. He explores the practical applications of mindfulness and meditation, presenting Buddhism as a path of self-discovery free from religious dogma. Very insightful and well told.

Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz is a cozy British mystery with a meta twist, as the author fictionalizes himself in the story, alternating between the present and five years prior. The audiobook narration is also spot-on. If this is your genre, add this to your list.

All this is why you can confidently ignore anyone who blames "DEI" for bad things happening in the world. They have no idea what DEI means or what it's based on. They're just using it as a thin mask for their own bias and bigotry. These are not serious people, and we should always call them out.

It's also why I don't think any companies abandoning DEI at the first sign of pushback were ever really committed. Those companies don't want new ideas or challenges to institutional thinking; they just wish to (1) avoid bad PR and (2) cozy up to whoever is in power. DEI requires real commitment.

But make they aren't just tokens or PR hires. No one, including these employees, wants that. Don't hire diverse people and then ask them to fit your pre-existing mold. It'll be a bad fit, and that's not the point. Your organization has to be willing to adapt, and so do they. That's hard at first.

Take your on-campus recruiting to HSBCs. Expand your recruiting efforts to include moms looking for part-time work or to rejoin your workforce. Consider making the position remote, increasing your pool of candidates with disabilities or who can't afford reliable transportation.

If you're afraid of change, you won't like DEI. If you don't like old ideas being challenged, you won't like DEI. If you want everything to stay the same forever because it works just fine for you, specifically, you won't like DEI.

But if you want to grow, innovate, and achieve more?

Diversify.

Diversity with equity and inclusion is pointless. That is just a quota system.

DEI is, by its nature, disruptive by nature. But it's disruptive for a specific purpose: to ensure that you get the best ideas, regardless of where they come from. It's for organizations that want to adapt and grow.

E&I is about adapting your existing culture to welcome new ideas and points of view, as well as considering what may be needed to help employees of different backgrounds feel like they belong. They need to feel they have equity - both in the sense of equal standing and a stake in the company.

What happens to your new talent when it arrives? Organizations usually have an existing culture or point of view. Challenging it can be difficult. If you don't give new ideas room to be aired and evaluated, then you've defeated the purpose of diversifying.

Enter Equity and Inclusion

Organizations can easily become silos, where everyone has a similar life experience and background. Our experiences inform our perspectives and viewpoints, so new or different ideas are hard to come by. Innovation and growth suffer.

Solution: diversify your talent pool. Different POV = new ideas.

Studies have shown that organizations that include diverse viewpoints have better financial results over the long term. That includes differences in social status, economic background, cultural viewpoint, religious affiliation and background, and place of education.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is not affirmative action. It's not a quota system. It's not about elevating less qualified people of a certain minority over better-qualified straight, white, cisgender men.

DEI is about increasing the strength of an organization by ensuring it doesn't stagnate.