What Exactly is an Equity Lens and Should We Abandon It?
I wear glasses - I have for quite some time but after I crossed over into my 40s my glasses have become more important for me to see clearly. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately as the number of requests increase for our work in strategy and change to be grounded in equity.
Many of our clients ask for their project to have an “equity lens” - so what do I hear as your consultant when you ask that? I hear mainly permission to remind you to put on your glasses, often and even when you don’t want to and when you think you don’t need them. But, is that enough? Part of the inherent issue with the glasses metaphor is that they can be removed when they aren’t comfortable or when deemed unnecessary - just like when I am tired of wearing my glasses and I take them off.
Moving Forward
“Using an equity lens will not fix your EDI problems. ”
Let’s replace equity lens conversations with equity framework conversations. A framework can be added to or adjusted but it functions more like a way to keep us honest. What can an equity lens or equity framework not do? Simply, a framework is for thinking critically with inclusion in mind, it will not fix your EDI problems.
In its simplified state, an equity framework during strategic planning calls for you to:
Look at who is in the room.
Examine who is making decisions.
Identify who is getting left out of the conversation.
Focus information gathering and decision-making on those most impacted by decisions.
As your strategy and change consultants - when you ask for an equity lens we will ask first, are the people most impacted meaningfully included in discussions and decisions? This is the starting place of an equity framework as part of strategic planning and culture change projects. Our job is to make the glasses a permanent part of your organization and to use a framework to examine assumptions and battle the ever-present, “But this is the way we have always done it.”
When you ask for a project to have an equity lens - you are asking for us to push you outside of your comfort zone and embed equity in each of your decisions - the big ones and the little ones. Because honestly, sometimes you think you see clearly, sometimes you don’t want to put on your glasses because they aren’t comfortable, and sometimes you don’t think you need the prescription change. We consider it a permission slip for big conversations.