Alan Richter, President(RC)2 = Future of Diversity **
I believe the equation still holds true today. The first R = the Rate of change. There’s little doubt that our world continues to change very fast. Accelerated change means constant challenges to the status quo, hence the need to manage across ever changing differences is an ever-increasing necessity. A good example of rapid change is attitudes to LGBTQ. According to the Pew Research Center in 2001, Americans supporting same-sex marriage was 35%. Sixteen years later in 2017 it was 62% and then crept up to 63% in 2023. Globally, the first national law providing for same sex marriage was enacted in 2001 in the Netherlands. By 2017 same-sex marriage was legally recognized in 22 countries and by 2025 it had risen to 38 countries. The Takeaway: expect that how we see ourselves will change over time… we hope in more inclusive ways.
The first C = Connectivity. Globalization implies that the world is “shrinking” meaning that more connections are possible and keep expanding with technological upgrades. Global connectivity is at the heart of the diversity challenge, as more connections will be across differences that we need to manage peacefully and productively. This tension sits at the heart of the “globalism versus nationalism” clash in the world that we have faced so strongly for the last decade. Globalism embraces connectivity, while the more fundamentalist nationalism repudiates a broader inclusive connectivity. My hunch is that the current resurgence of nationalism (manifested in Brexit and the MAGA movement) will be short-lived. The recent election of Peter Magyar in Hungary is a healthy sign hopefully marking the beginning of the downward trend in exclusionary nationalism. The Takeaway: we live in one world so let’s get used to that idea. Seeing our planet from the moon perhaps is more important than getting there. No national boundaries are seen when earth is viewed from space.
The second R = Reputation. Every organization’s reputation (how well it is perceived) will grow in importance as the world becomes ever more complex. Both ethics, integrity and inclusion are at the heart of reputation and will grow increasingly important in the future. The global reputation of the USA is currently in great peril to the extent that a narrow nationalism (see above) cannot come to terms with the growing globalization (characterized by inclusion and openness) created by increased connectivity. Pew Research on attitudes to the USA across 24 countries in 2025 found that ratings had dropped significantly in 15 countries since 2024. One of the largest decreases was in Mexico, where only 29% had a favorable view of the USA, compared with 61% in 2024. Canadians had also become much less likely to view the USA favorably (34% in 2025 vs. 54% in 2024). And these ratings have likely dropped further this year. Integrity and Inclusion must be non-negotiable for any business to remain sustainable. The Takeaway:
Sustainability in every business relies on ethics. As the Chinese proverb goes: It can take a hundred years to build a reputation, but you can lose it in one day.
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Diversity (which includes equity and inclusion as in DEI) has recently faced a misguided and cruel backlash in the USA. However, for smart companies and organizations it remains crucial for creativity, innovation and sustaining an ethical reputation, and hence the chance to make a positive “world of difference.”
The second C = Creativity. Creativity contributes to reputation, and more importantly it enables pioneering ideas to emerge with breakthrough technologies and global solutions to our complex challenges, such as climate change, sustainable economic growth and world peace. The links between Diversity and Creativity (and innovation) are close and complex. The fact is that more jobs today require creativity than ever before, and at the same time AI and automation will eliminate more jobs (the routine, non-creative kinds) than ever before. Creativity is constructed through diversity of thought, which itself is a conglomerate and outcome of many intersectional diversity dimensions. The Takeaway: Don’t expect science, art, abundance and progress to grow if diversity is suppressed or lost.
So, what’s the future of diversity? Almost 20 years later, and despite the misguided and cruel backlash on DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) occurring in the USA, Diversity remains wrapped up in these four factors multiplied together: Rate of change x Connectivity x Reputation x Creativity. The better we understand and embrace each of them, and their interconnectedness, the better we can shape the Future of Diversity to make a real, positive World of Difference.
*The article was “The Future of Diversity” published in Profiles in Diversity Journal, August 2007.
** This equation is indebted to the book Blur by Stan Davis and Christopher Meyer, published in 1999, in which the authors describe the future of business as a blur, with the equation: speed x connectivity x intangibles = BLUR. Reputation and Creativity are the Intangibles.
