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Am I the only one who saw “IED” and thought “Improvised Explosive Device”?
They’re renaming diversity programs, overhauling internal DEI teams and working closely with lawyers. Some are moving away from using racial and gender considerations in hiring and promotion…. Meanwhile, the DEI industry — which was worth an estimated $9 billion in 2023… — is also rethinking its public face, consultants say…. [I]nstead of referring to DEI, [Johnny C. Taylor Jr., chief executive of the Society for Human Resource Management] switched to calling these efforts ‘IED,’ putting the focus on ‘inclusion’ as DEI accrued cultural and political baggage…. Eric Ellis, CEO of Integrity Development, a DEI consultancy, said he’s seen the ‘branding merry-go-round’ playing out for decades, tracing back to the wake of the civil rights movement. He expects the language to keep changing in response to public attacks, especially those by high-profile figures like Elon Musk, who in January wrote on his social media platform X that ‘DEI is just another word for racism.’… Joelle Emerson, chief executive of DEI consultancy Paradigm [said] ‘DEI has only been the acronym du jour since 2020… Regardless of what we call it, we’ve done a really poor job storytelling what this work is actually about.
Althouse: “This shifting landscape is forcing companies and consultants to adapt on the fly, with many acting preemptively to guard against the legal threats…”
It seems that IED would be a good acronym for a program that seeks to blow up a company by stressing goals other than offering the best product or service. Don’t get me wrong. Diversity of thought is important. No one should be treated poorly.
Stressing the very things that we’ve sought to overcome is a step backward.
