Below The Surface: Why Traditional DEI Practices Fail
- Diana Aguilar
- Oct 20
- 1 min read
Insight
Most diversity initiatives have become blunt instruments—reducing, bypassing, and trivializing the human insight they were meant to unleash.
DEI programs often focus on compliance, programs, or training—essentially ticking boxes. We reject this approach, not because training is bad, but because it misses the forest for the trees. Hiring people of diverse backgrounds without leveraging their lived experiences treats diversity as “skin deep.” A culture that values diverse lived experiences and links them to market-facing growth will win.
A 2024 Harvard Business Review study confirms that “The Most Common DEI Practices Actually Undermine Diversity.” Without connecting diversity to business outcomes, companies face fatigue, resistance, and missed revenue. True inclusion uncovers insights, accelerates innovation, and anticipates market shifts—beyond HR metrics.
Strategic Questions
• How can my company’s DEI program be redeployed to drive tangible business impact?
• How are we harnessing cultural insight to fuel 2026 revenue gains?
• Do my company’s performance metrics capture the current and future ROI of diversity?
Why it Matters
We’ve turned diversity into data—and in doing so, stripped it of its real value.
Sources
