Diverse People Bring Diverse Perspectives
Diverse Joy’s August 2025 episode: “Diverse People Bring Diverse Perspectives”
Diverse Joy Podcast - Season 2, Episode 13
Will’s joy this month is the annual Woof’s Boat Cruise in the lakes around Madison, and Amber's is a lovely, heartwarming gift from her former students!
Amber and Will take a selfie while recording this episode of Diverse Joy
The cohosts start off discussing the benefits that diversity brings to organizations. Teams with more diversity tend to have more creative, transformative solutions to problems, and some reports say that corporations with more diversity actually make more money. They also caution against thinking of diversity only in terms of utility, because removing barriers to full inclusion is just the right thing to do! Next, they talk about the unfortunate “Pet to Threat” phenomenon that can often push diverse people out of organizations. Coined by Dr. Kecia Thomas and her colleagues, Pet to Threat involves someone, often a person of color, first being trotted out as wonderful addition to an organization (like a “Pet”), but when they have new ideas or want to address problems in the organization, people start turning against them (they become a “Threat”). Another analogy for this is that organizations start off excited for someone to “shake things up” (seen as a positive), but when they start actually making changes, they’re “rocking the boat” (seen as a negative).
During Story Time, Will and Amber share about their own Pet to Threat experiences and how that impacted them, and also how having the “Pet to Threat” label for their experiences has been therapeutic for them and others!
This episode’s question involves the difference between “inclusion” and “belonging”, with a conversation around how and why many organizations have recently begun adopting “belonging” as a major diversity goal.
Will and Amber in fashionable plaid outfits for this episode’s promo photo session
This episode’s bias habit-breaking skill is to Track the Data. Tracking data is a great way to assess where problem areas might be and also how well you’re doing with solutions. Look at types of data you might track regarding your customers, clients, employees, or even just yourself!
Will’s joyful media recommendation is the adorable, smart, and endearing television show, Bluey, which is great for kids and adults!
The cohosts shouted out and promised to link you to a lot of extras this episode, so check these out if you wish!
“The Persistence of Pet To Threat” article by Dr. Kecia Thomas (at Forbes)
Will and Amber recommend the Instagram accounts of Esther Oluchi Nwokoro, AKA “AStar4Real”, and Althea Crimmins’ account
Brene Brown on how “fitting in” is the opposite of belonging
Also, you can check out the wonderful work by Julie Oyemaja and the Interprofessional Primary Care Institute (via their LinkedIn)
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