In That Space Beyond the Checklist

Checklists and scripts. During training, a request for one will inevitably arise from an earnest and curious participant. When they do, it’s usually reflective and indicative of a person’s:

• Desire to do better
• Desire to be accurate and “get it right”
• Need for additional support
• Intention to not cause harm to historically marginalized groups, and/or
• Emotions such as fear or anxiety

Don’t get me wrong. Checklists and scripts are helpful. Good ones help us focus on what's important and what to avoid. The best ones provide starter language and steps to help navigate & resolve challenging scenarios. Some are so good that they even have checklists embedded inside of checklists and scripts within scripts.   

The deeper I go with clients into DEI work, though, I find that checklists and scripts often fall short of creating the transformation that's needed in this space. 

I see this often with organizations, leaders, and individuals who grapple with where to take their DEI work next as they simultaneously confront some of the toughest systemic challenges during one of the most polarized periods in our history since the Civil War and navigate increasingly tight national & global economies & markets. 

When I look to the land and see what it offers, September’s tracking adventure reminds me that it’s more than just a question of how well these checklists & scripts are written and what they contain. 

It’s more about how present and observant we can remain with ourselves and others as conversations become more dynamic, fraught with high emotions, stir up longstanding tensions and unresolved conflicts at both the individual and collective levels, and as we simultaneously grow increasingly tired because this work is truly a marathon and rarely a sprint. 

Quite simply, DEI work requires us to be in relationship with ourselves and each other in ways that don’t necessarily follow a formula, script, or checklist. These resources, while good starting points in our respective journeys, inevitably lead us to a simple but powerful truth:

Yes, we work to create systemic change in the DEI space. AND, in doing so, we must understand that systems don’t just create themselves. People do. To get to heart of systems change in DEI and create something new, we must be willing to face, reimagine, and redesign how we relate to ourselves and each other on the emotional & interpersonal levels. 

For that, we must be willing to go beyond a checklist and script.

This insight hit home during my last trek. I had a long busy week because isn't that how every week has felt since 2020? I looked for multiple excuses and reasons to keep from going tracking, which included everything from:

• "Welp, guess I can't go. I ran out of time to get my turkey & cheese with Ruffles." (Yes, this is a thing - see this post for more.) 
• "Just how much scat can a person look at? It'll be the same ol' bobcats and coyotes pooping down the trail. Maybe if we're lucky, a jackrabbit."

Somehow I dragged myself out of bed at 5 am. Somehow I hopped in my car to head out to the tracking site and cross the Richmond Bridge as the sun started to rise.

Somehow I figured out a way to solve my turkey sandwich dilemma and called ahead to a local market.

Somehow I managed to get there.

And I'm glad I did. As we opened our day, my lead tracker directed our small group to use our senses by way of a story.

He shared that when his own teacher, Tom, was learning to be a tracker, he once complained to the elder Apache tracker, whom he called Grandfather and that had taken him under his wing to teach him the art of tracking, that everything looked the same. That day, Tom questioned whether there was anything new to discover.

"Haven't we run out of things to see?" he asked.

The elder tracker responded calmly,

"Grandson, the most important things are the one we hardly take the time to look at. Can you tell me how many spots there are on the robin? Or where the feathers break on the quail?"

His story reminded me that once we've gotten our foundational knowledge, checklists, and scripts down in the DEI space, there is still so much more detail to notice, unpack, and experience together. 

It is this space beyond the checklist and script where we must strive to stay open and present with ourselves and each other. 

It is in this space that we learn to observe the subtle little things that are happening internally and externally in ourselves, with others, and our workplaces. 

This is where the work really begins and where real transformation becomes possible. When we arrive or find ourselves being in such spaces, the focus of the interaction is to:

• Challenge binary checklist thinking such as "rights" vs. "wrongs", "your way" vs. "my way", or "did it" vs. "didn't do it" and deeply examine and account for the impact of our actions on another human being’s life, wellbeing, and their ability to move through the world.
• Respond to each other in the midst of challenges, conflicts, or inquiries in ways that shift the existing power and privilege dynamics that have caused inequity, oppression, and harm so that we can experience a different way of being in relationship and relating to each other.

My lead tracker closed his story and remarked,

“There’s truth in Grandfather’s words. Every time you go out, there's more to see. The land will show you more but you can’t go in attached to an agenda. You've gotta' learn to go with whatever nature is offering up to you at any particular time and work with that.” 

Those words ring true especially for organizations and individuals wondering where they should go now that they have done the basics and established a foundation. For those wondering what’s next, feel like they are running out of steam, or must make tough decisions about their 2023 budgets, do not stop. It’s time to deepen your work. Learn how to go beyond the checklist and script. Build your organizational and individual capacity to notice and be with folks at the emotional and interpersonal levels ESPECIALLY when power & privilege or oppressive dynamics are at play. 

As the land has shown me this month, creating systems-level change around our DEI efforts requires us to look more closely at our patterns of being, behaving, and impacting while also inviting us to ask ourselves and each other three simple yet profound questions:

What haven’t I / we taken the time to notice? 

What’s the impact and/or cost of not noticing? 

What shifts in my experience and other’s experience when I / we take time to notice & respond differently?