A group of diversity professional recent debated the snail pace that diversity programs moves in creating changes in organizational culture. While a few applauded accomplishments made to date, a slight majority felt that the drive for inclusion was going too slow and focusing on the wrong things.

This latter is precisely what I have been pointing out to anyone that listens. Organizations need to stop reinventing the “business case for diversity” and start doing more than creating diversity hugging ads.

We know attitudes is a barrier. That argument was made ages ago and it dismayed me that a few diversity conferences to which I attended last year were still talking about it and celebrated a ‘groundbreaking’ white paper that covered the same ground as many documents that preceeded it. This fixation on the discovery phase of diversity only serves those who wish to do nothing.

In my view, INACTION – not attitude – is the big barrier.