The Inclusion Dissonance: The Challenge of Moving from Representation to TRUE Inclusion

Organizations by far are still stuck in the representation stages of inclusion. In fact, many organizations have a false understanding of inclusion and how it can and should be practiced. They only become aware of this when: they see their numbers reflect a different reality than what they intended, there are continued complaints and dissatisfaction among people, and there continues to be challenges in recruitment and retention. Yet, for some organizations who strive more consciously to promote and educate about inclusion, there is still a gap that exists between their beliefs and how they practice inclusion. The field of cognitive psychology, particularly its focus on cognitive dissonance, can provide one explanation for why organizations continue to fail at inclusive work.

Cognitive dissonance is a state of discomfort that humans experience when one of their beliefs/ideas/attitudes is contradicted by evidence or when two of their beliefs/ideas/attitudes come into conflict with each other. In other words, there is disconnect or dissonance between one’s beliefs about a particular issue or someone/something and one’s behaviors towards that issue or someone/something. A famous case in cognitive dissonance comes from the work of Leon Festinger who described the workings of cognitive dissonance that occurred in a group setting.

Dissonance in Action
Festinger and his associates studied a group which believed that the earth was going to be destroyed by a flood on a certain date. This belief led group members to gather in the same location and pray – by doing so, they believed they would be saved. In the end, there was no flood and no end of the world. So what happened to the members? For the group members who were really committed to the idea/belief (basically giving up their homes and jobs) — when the flood did not happen, these individuals had a large dissonance between their beliefs and the piece of evidence they saw. Because of this large gap, they were more likely to re-interpret the evidence to show that they were right all along. For example, they would say that the earth was not destroyed because they came together to pray. While these individuals justified their beliefs others recognized the foolishness of the experience and changed their beliefs and/or actions.

Using this example to guide our thinking about inclusion in the work place we can see that organizations who want to move from representation to true inclusion often have large gaps (dissonance) between their beliefs/attitudes/ideas and their behaviors. Basically, organizations aren’t really walking the inclusion talk they believe. Some organizations even justify their inclusion beliefs even when the evidence shows up to contradict the belief system. And, rarely do we see organizational leaders change their beliefs or actions to match up with what they should be doing around inclusion.

Dissonance and New Learning
Dissonance can also occur when new learning or ideas are presented that conflict with what is already known. For example, an employee is required to attend a cultural diversity workshop. During the session, the employee hears ideas that contradict or come in conflict with his/her belief about the topic. This employee already has certain knowledge about cultural diversity that he/she brings to the workshop, and because he/she is especially committed to their own knowledge and belief system, it’s more likely the employee resists the new learning. You can tell when the person is struggling with dissonance when you hear statements like, “why can’t people who come to this country be more like us” or “why do we have to take these classes,” or “I have to change my belief (or what I do) just to accommodate someone else?” More often than not, when the new learning is difficult, uncomfortable, or even humiliating, people are more likely to say that the learning or workshop was useless, pointless or valueless. To do so would be to admit that one has been “had” or “conned” into believing something different. And as Byron Katie would say, who would we be if not for the stories that we continue to tell ourselves?

If all this sounds familiar or resonates with what is going in your organization, you’re not alone. Our behaviors are very much still rooted in beliefs that are not completely explored within a working environment. Organizational leaders have not articulated clearly (although they think they have) what they believe to be inclusion. The result is a failure to implement and practice inclusion that matches up with the belief systems. Organizational leaders – especially those specifically working on diversity initiatives – need to identify the points of dissonance that occurs in their organization and among staff. Organizational leaders should pay attention to this dissonance and how it’s being expressed.

The Larger the Gap in Beliefs, the Higher the Dissonance
According to cognitive dissonance theory, the more important the issue and the larger the gap between the beliefs, the greater the dissonance within people. This is critical for organizational leaders to understand because inclusion is a very important issue within an organization, and inherently there are large gaps in beliefs on a personal, team, and organizational level related to this. Individual beliefs about power and privilege as it relates to gender inequity, race inequity, generations, ability/disability, sexual orientation, religion and so on need to be explored. If dissonance is not discussed, organizational leaders will continue to employ workers who: feel uncomfortable talking about culture and diversity, continue to behave in inappropriate ways, and feel that all they need are the “right tools” or the “right answers” to be culturally competent. Without careful attention to exploring the stories of dissonance, leaders allow their organizations to bury their inclusion blind spots. This can lead to underestimating or overestimating abilities and to truly understanding what needs to be done. Regardless of the talent that is recruited, the accomplishments or progress made, or even how much money is poured into diversity initiatives, these blind spots can lead leaders to miss opportunities that bring about positive, transformative change and innovation.

Given this information, what can leaders do about the inclusion dissonance within their organizations? First, leaders must have the courage to be open to the possibilities that their beliefs or the organization’s beliefs are not aligned with actions/behaviors. It takes courageous leadership to not maintain the status quo; to explore the stories that give root to organizational and individual beliefs. Second, leaders can and should explore the dissonance by asking themselves the following:

1. What are my organization’s beliefs about inclusion?
2. What dissonance is present in our beliefs and our behaviors?
3. What gaps (in recruitment, within policy, in intra-personal interactions) are created because of the dissonance?
4. How is this dissonance stopping us from truly being inclusive?

Finally, it’s important for leaders to work with their employees to explore employee dissonance. Inclusion is not the sole responsibility of leaders; it is the responsibility of everyone within an organization. And because leaders are in positional power to promote and support the work, it is the responsibility of the leader to help his/her employees to uncover their blind spots. With clear sight of these blinds spots, organizations can turn them into an advantage. By doing so, organizations can find significantly greater possibilities that expand and deepen inclusion work than previously imagined.