Who is the author of Reconstructing DEI?

The author of Reconstructing DEI is Lily Zheng.

Personal Development

Reconstructing DEI Book Summary - Reconstructing DEI Book explained in key points

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Reconstructing DEI summary

Name: Reconstructing DEI
Rating: 2.7 (67 reviews)
Author: Lily Zheng

Lily Zheng

A Practitioner's Workbook

2.7 (67 ratings)

19 mins

Brief summary

Reconstructing DEI by Lily Zheng provides a comprehensive guide on transforming diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in organizations. It offers actionable strategies to create lasting, meaningful change and foster an inclusive workplace culture.

Topics

Diversity & Inclusion Leadership Culture

Table of Contents

Reconstructing DEI
Summary of 8 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 8

What’s in it for me? Practical exercises for strengthening your DEI know-how.

Navigating the complex world of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) requires more than theoretical knowledge – it demands actionable strategies and a commitment to effecting change.

This Blink serves as an essential resource and practical guide for anyone wanting to expand their understanding and application of DEI principles. The exercises we’ll cover build on one another, so we recommend moving through the Blink in the order we’ve laid out.

A note before we begin: the author recommends first familiarizing yourself with the content from their previous book, Deconstructing DEI. This is because jumping into action before understanding the underlying principles can end up doing more harm than good. So, if you haven’t yet read the Blink for Deconstructing DEI, feel free to head there first.

Defining yourself

Effective DEI work requires introspection. In order to drive systemic change with integrity, it’s essential to first understand your own values, identities, and experience.

Begin by identifying your core values, which serve as a compass for your actions and decisions. Specifically, come up with a list of eight of your top values, such as compassion, integrity, or knowledge. Reflect on how each of these values manifests in your behaviors and life decisions, as well as how they’ve evolved over time. This exercise helps to ground you when a situation challenges your convictions.

Next, you’ll explore your various social identities. This deep dive into the interplay of privilege and marginalization in your life reveals the complex ways in which your identities have impacted you. First, name your identities across some common identity dimensions, such as race, nationality, gender, neurotype, religion, sexuality, or anything else important to your self-identification, like military or immigration status.

Now reflect on how each of these identities confers privilege or marginalization on you, noting the unique advantages or disadvantages you’ve encountered. How might two or more of them have combined to increase either marginalization or privilege? What topics do your identities give you unique expertise in? And less expertise in?

Finally, drawing from these answers, consider the question: If you had to give a 10-minute presentation on a topic you have identity-related expertise with, what would you choose? Conversely, you can also think about a 10-minute presentation you would like to hear from someone else on a topic in which you lack identity-related expertise. What might you hope to learn from it?

These exercises will deepen your understanding of yourself and help steer your DEI efforts.

Expanding your capacity

Now that you’ve reflected on your core values and identity, you can leverage this internal groundwork by expanding your capacity beyond yourself. This means beginning to cultivate supportive relationships, and establishing shared accountability.

To engage others effectively, first identify DEI goals that could benefit from mutual support. Consider specific, concrete objectives that you aim to achieve in the coming weeks or months. After identifying your goals, think about who among your colleagues or within your network could serve as partners in shared accountability. These people should not only share your DEI objectives, but also possess complementary skills or perspectives.

Identifying DEI issues

Recognizing inequity often starts with a gut feeling that something isn't right. While important, however, this instinct must be supported by data and evidence that makes a compelling case for change.

To start, it’s best to define specific, measurable outcomes for your DEI initiatives. An abstract goal of “Greater diversity, equity, and inclusion” is too vague. Instead, choose precise goals, like representational parity or an accessible workplace. How might you track progress toward them?

Shifting culture toward inclusion

Championing inclusion in diverse environments requires a blend of self-awareness and practical strategies. While diagnosing inequity is crucial, the core of DEI work lies in creating and maintaining an inclusive culture that actively supports and energizes everyone.

The process starts with a commitment to lifelong learning and adapting to the varying identities and experiences present in any environment. Educate yourself on different cultures and identities so that you’re not imposing the burden of education on marginalized people. If you encounter someone from a culture you're unfamiliar with, do your own research online or through other resources, especially via content created by people from that culture.

Navigating conflict and reducing harm

In the work of DEI, addressing conflict and harm is as inevitable as it is crucial. Your endeavors can never rid your organization of harm entirely. But how you manage and repair harm can transform conflicts into opportunities for growth and understanding.

Active listening is a cornerstone in this process. It involves deeply listening to people’s perspectives without jumping to conclusions or solutions. This kind of listening is characterized by several key actions, including: reflecting or paraphrasing what’s been said to ensure understanding; asking questions that seek deeper insight; and validating the other person’s emotions. This approach shows respect for someone’s concerns.

Building coalitions

When creating a mass DEI movement, practitioners often forget that change is rarely the product of isolated actions by singular heroes. Rather, a movement is born from the collaborative efforts of individuals often possessing conflicting ideologies and strategies.

Given this, initiating a DEI movement begins with understanding how it may affect various stakeholders. Think of a DEI-related issue you believe requires a movement to address. Next, identify as many individuals or groups you can think of who would have something to gain or lose from this movement. From this list, select three that might have the most to gain and three with the most to lose. Out of those six, choose four to research.

DEI strategy

Creating systemic change in DEI work demands a thoughtful, structured approach. Importantly, it must go beyond generic best practices.

A DEI strategy outlines a concrete plan complete with initiatives, efforts, and timelines aimed at achieving a set of identified outcomes. It’s customized to your organization’s unique context and requires you to use all of the information and techniques you’ve gathered so far.

Achieving DEI

Achieving DEI is an ambition that requires sustained effort. Though intended to discourage complacency, the sentiment that “DEI work never truly ends” can feel exhausting. To maintain motivation and avoid burnout, it’s important to keep faith in positive change and prioritize self-care.

As part of your work to achieve DEI, you should regularly assess your progress using the following four-level model.

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What is Reconstructing DEI about?

Reconstructing DEI (2024) offers an in-depth guide for implementing effective diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies (DEI) in various organizational contexts. It provides readers with practical tools, exercises, and case studies to navigate and enhance DEI initiatives, aiming to foster more inclusive environments and equitable outcomes.

Reconstructing DEI Review

Reconstructing DEI (2022) delves into reshaping diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in organizations. Here's why this book stands out:

Offers fresh perspectives and strategies for driving meaningful change in workplaces, breaking away from traditional DEI approaches.
Provides practical tools and resources to help organizations cultivate diverse, inclusive, and equitable environments effectively.
Engages readers with its thought-provoking insights and case studies, ensuring a stimulating and enlightening read.

Who should read Reconstructing DEI?

HR professionals, corporate executives, middle managers, and small business owners
Nonprofit organizations focused on social justice and advocacy
DEI practitioners, and anyone responsible for implementing DEI initiatives at an organization

About the Author

Lily Zheng is a prominent diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategist, consultant, and speaker. Recognized as a Forbes D&I Trailblazer and 2021 DEI Influencer, they are the author of several influential books including The Ethical Sellout and DEI Deconstructed. Zheng has made significant contributions to the discourse on equity and inclusion.

Categories with Reconstructing DEI

Personal Development Management & Leadership Corporate Culture Society & Culture

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