“ A dose of complexity can disrupt overconfidence cycles and spur rethinking cycles. It gives us more humility about our knowledge and more doubts about our opinions, and it can make us curious enough to discover information we were lacking”, Adam Grant, Think Again.
Having spent most my career in fast moving start up environments, I’ve built the bias for action. The joy of jumping from action to action, pushing for continuous progress, has been the colour of my career. Despite this, I’ve never felt such an urgent need to slow down, as I have in 2025.
As global tensions mount, the ability to step back, intentionally reflect and gain new strategic perspective, is critical to de-escalate what feels like insurmountable differences. People are being targeted for discrimination and hate, so action is desperately required. Time to think feels like an insensitive luxury. Busy-ness implementing reactive actions can feel like progress, but may very well be the ultimate barrier to sustainable change.
In my pursuit to become a more impactful social impact worker, I’ve been exploring various questions to increase the depth and impact of my advocacy work:
- Why does Diversity, Equity and Inclusion matter?
- Why do some intelligent and ethical people object to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion?
- What is the right balance between being tolerant and flexible with our views vs having conviction and integrity?
- What shapes a person’s values and worldviews towards Diversity, Equity and Inclusion?
- Why is Diversity, Equity and inclusion considered polarising?
- What is the role of polarisation in meaningful change?
- When do we need to lean into polarising discussions vs focus on de-escalation?
- How do we bring more people on the DEI journey without decentring the views of the most marginalised?
- Who gets to define what is considered ethical, fair and just?
- Who gets to define how we measure ROI and social impact?
- How do we build trust amongst groups with fundamentally opposing world views?
- Who are the movable middle and what do they care about?
- How do we encourage people to explore the ways Diversity, Equity and Inclusion brings value to their life and environment?
- How do you differentiate between good faith objection vs bad faith backlash?
- What is the difference between anti-discrimination and anti-racism?
- How do we communicate with nuance when modern day communication channels prefer efficiency?
- How do we encourage empathy and allyship without triggering paternalistic hero complex?
- When is it right to take fast, decisive action vs delayed and considered thought?
- How do we ensure we are adapting our DEI practices to be what’s most effective, and not simply most popular?
- How do we build coalitions for change?
- What do you do when the loudest voices are misrepresented as the majority?
- How do we build the world we want, rather than react to the one we are given?
- How do we enable discerning conversations?
- How do we define our red lines/ deal breakers?
- How do we know if we’re pushing too little or too much for change?
While all of these questions are phrased to understand the outside world, I find I must answer them for myself first because self-reflection and accountability is at the heart of sustainable change.
What questions are shaping the way you move through life and work?
Steph Lam | DEI Practitioner | Writer 