all that money left on the table

There are many things that I do not understand in life, but the resistance of large companies to make more room for women and diversity in general, in their management teams and in their boards of directors. administration, is at the top of the list.

Marie-Claude Lortie
The Press

That, in a world in full transformation, we want to serve a diversified, multiple, poly-all public, by having a homogeneous team of decision-makers who have the same socio-demographic profile – and therefore the same vision and the same interests – completely exceed me.

From the outside, the anomaly is disconcerting.

Especially when we know that diversity is synonymous with prosperity.

Studies show it and remonstrate it. Harvard studies, the Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey say so.

Companies whose Press scrutinized the management teams should be aware of this. Yes, many have made progress, but too much is still hanging around for hiring women.

Each time, we return to the same themes: diversity brings more ideas, more innovation, more connection with the workforce and customers, more revenue, more profitability, etc.

We must do better!

***

But as is the case throughout life too, it is often by taking another point of view that we come to understand the phenomena. And here, it is clear another truth of human nature: the people who are well in the status quo have no interest in changing it.

They can say that they want to change it. They can look at what is feasible to change it. They can study the situation from every angle thinking that they can act to change it.

But if diversifying calls into question the place and power of those who run the companies, their friends, their networks, their acolytes – all the pieces of the puzzle that sticks in place – they have no interest in doing so.

That's why we see a lot of people of good will – who think they want change, who say they want change, who understand very well that it would be useful and profitable to make change – never do all that is really necessary to trigger enough the change in question.

Often, those who run the companies do not even see that their decisions do not really bring the change they think they want. Maybe they're blocking it. This is called "unconscious bias".

But money on the horizon, profits, should convince people to change, right?

Yes, but only if diversity is chosen as a business strategy. But there will always be people to believe that this is not the only strategy to improve the performance of a company, even if it is unthinkable, said Einstein one day, to have different results if we redo the same thing.

And that's how we see companies as different as Victoria's Secret – widely criticized in all forums for the non-representativeness of its marketing – or Facebook – whose diversity issues in the hiring were the headlines and who is no longer favored by young people attracted more by Snapchat or Instagram – losing their market share.

But fortunately, these young people understand and embrace diversity. That too, studies show it. Young people have open arms. For them, it goes without saying.

On Instagram precisely, the two people who have the most subscribers to their account are the Italian-Mexican singer Selena Gomez and Portuguese soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo. They are followed by singer Ariane Grande and actor Dwayne Johnson. Arrive after Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, the Brazilian soccer player Neymar.

And the list goes on and virtually nobody in the list of the 20 most popular accounts, looks like all those white men, from 40 to 70 years, who run so many companies whose products and services are intended for the same clientele. 'Instagram.

If I were an investor, I would follow Rihanna, with her fashion companies, beauty products, for all sizes and all skin colors, and I would look for the next Sara Blakely, one of the first american billionaires from nothing, the one who built the Spanx empire.

In its early days, 10 years ago, Blakely, who launched body sculpting underwear, came up against an industry whose leaders did not wear their own products, which was a big block to innovation. She had trouble understanding her concept. But she also took advantage of this lack of knowledge. No one else had the same idea.

How many other sectors, other businesses, are so little aware of the needs of their customers and leave money on the table?

Thousands.

To all of us to play.