Acronym

Another small idea that was the topic of a lively discussion, is capitalizing on an event to forward a D&I agenda or otherwise create a teachable moment. There was general agreement that working to create such an event is resource intensive and leads to only limited opportunity for success, especially for an organization that has embraced the ideas of diversity and inclusion, but struggle to find ways to apply it.

There are two keys I got from the discussion. The first is bide your time while you're waiting for the event wisely. Work on incremental progress, plant seeds of ideas, and be prepared so that when a critical event does arise you can quickly begin to capitalize on it.

Second, be selective. Don't try to make everything into a critical event--there's a bit of crying wolf in that scenario because when a truly teachable moment comes along, you will struggle to get people to listen to you. This is the art part of being a D&I leader, recognizing the right critical event.

So what do we mean by critical event? There's no simple answer. Court cases that make the news could be one--particularly if it strikes close to home. A staff or volunteer incident; a planning process that calls for D&I focus; national or international events - say racial tensions or drastically changing demographics in the city that will host your next annual meeting. It could be anything, really, the key is being able to recognize it and prepared to capitalize on it.