The Crossman Conversation
What People Look Like is a Small Part of Diversity
DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) has become a trendy buzzword — and that does a disservice to the importance and impact of this critical topic.
Often when we talk about diversity, we talk from the perspective of people who don’t look like us. But when Zing Shaw was my guest on The Crossman Conversation, she made an important point. She said:
“Just because people look the same doesn’t mean they are the same.”
Take that a step further: Just because people look different doesn’t mean they are different.
Zing recalled being asked how Black people felt about a particular topic by a white woman when she was in graduate school. “I had to explain to her that I can only give her my experience. I don’t know how Black people think about the topic because there are a lot of different types of Black people and you might get a lot of different opinions from them,” she said.
Zing Shaw is the chief DEI officer and managing director with ZRG Partners, and she had some thought-provoking messages about diversity, equity, and inclusion.
She shared this analogy about hiring: You’re going apple-picking, so you head into an orchard and you pick a Macintosh, a Granny Smith, a red delicious, and maybe a green apple and put them all in your basket. They’re different, but they’re all still apples. When you go to check out, someone suggests you throw in an orange. You might wonder what it tastes like or costs, and you might not buy it because you were intent on apple-picking.
But through diversity, equity, and inclusion, you can create more than a basket of apples. You can add strawberries, grapes, bananas, oranges, and pears to your apples and build a fruit basket. And it will be delicious and healthful and even better than the apples you originally wanted.
“We want people to wrap their mind around the concept that we can’t go apple-picking anymore,” Zing said. “We’ve got to create an ecosystem for a fruit basket.”
Anyone who has talked to me for more than a few minutes knows that I’m huge supporter of historically Black colleges and universities. Zing is an alum of Spelman College, an all-women’s HBCU in Atlanta, and did her graduate work at the University of Pennsylvania, a predominantly white Ivy League school. She talked candidly about both of those experiences and how they shaped the person she is today.
Early in our conversation, I asked:
“What if I’m for diversity and inclusion, but I don’t like equity? Can I pick two of the three?”
Her answer was powerful and insightful, and you’ll want to hear it in her own words. Go to:
For some additional insights into why we often resist diversity, listen to my conversation with Jason Greer, author of Bias, Racism & the Brain: How we got here and what needs to happen. Go to:
Thanks for reading. Here’s a little more about me:
