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Written by Raul Pereyra HR Pro | Human Resources Consultant
The AAA Roadmap to DEI.
When we began building our DEI (Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion) program, the AAA Roadmap, we thought about the program as a process for change. Real organizational, cultural change that went beyond the one-and-done “diversity” or “sensitivity” training. And little by little this process began to look like a life-long journey. A journey that gets you to your destination, which is to arrive in a place where you are practicing real inclusion within your organization.
Of course, you know that the journey never ends. You must work on DEI every day, and it must become a regular part of your DNA.
If our DEI program is a roadmap, and our destination is DEI, then we had to come up with a fun and clever way to show you the “how do we get there” – by what means? Walking, skipping, driving?
Bingo! Sprinkle in some psychology.
Psychologist Jonathan Haidt came up with the Elephant-Rider analogy for describing a fundamental tension of psychology. Everyone has two sides: a rational system (ridder) and an emotional system (elephant).*
These two systems are at odds with each other, creating a constant tension between knowing what is right and doing what is right.
The Rider represents rational, logical thinking, the part of the brain that takes in and analyzes information, plans, crunches the numbers, etc.
The Elephant represents the emotional side of the brain that runs on autopilot behaviors, where we give in to our feelings, cravings, desires, etc.
And just like that, a logo is born.
Meet Eddie and Peanut: inspired by psychology and a framework for creating real organizational, cultural change, the Elephant-Rider analogy became our mascot, our logo for our DEI program.
Imagine a rider on top of a 10,000-pound elephant. Getting a 10,000-pound elephant to do what you know is right is not easy. There’s a constant fight between the Rider and the Elephant, the rational and the emotional – it’s a fight for supremacy.
If the Rider and the Elephant ever get into a tug of war, who do you think will win? It’s no wonder why diets are hard. Change is hard because we’re fighting a tug of war with an elephant!
Real change requires that the rider and elephant work together.
So, if you want to make REAL change, then you need to get Eddie and Peanut to work together and follow the same path. Let Eddie and Peanut guide you to your destination – they know the way!
Our AAA Roadmap shows you the best path to get to your destination. When you arrive at your destination, remember to wash-rinse-repeat if you want to sustain the change. You need to work regularly to make DEI part of your DNA.
* Credit for the idea of the elephant-rider analogy belongs to Jonathan Haidt and also credit for the examples about knowing what is right and doing what is right, belongs to Chip Heath and Dan Heath, Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard.
Contact us today to learn how our AAA Roadmap can help you create the DEI change you want to see.
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