"Move Fast and Break Things" is a terrible way to be anti-racist - Jamey Harvey and Javaughn Spencer of Agilian

"Move Fast and Break Things" is a terrible way to be anti-racist.

This Karmic Capitalist podcast episode is FULL of gold.

I talk to Javaughn and Jamey, VP of culture and CEO respectively of Agilian.com, a technology consulting firm that has absolutely nailed anti-racism and diversity to its mast.

When, to his enormous shame, Jamey was shown data that the black female execs on his team were paid significantly less than the white male ones, and it was not attributable to performance, he raised the pay of all those underpaid execs in one fell swoop.
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... and hit the commercial reality that follows those kinds of easy but hard decisions (my words, not his).

That profitability took a dive.

Which in turn shone the light on the fact that Agilian's rates were also too low. Efficiency and rate alignments took care of the short-term hit to profits. While employee retention rose as the team saw how the leadership was prepared quite literally to put its money where its mouth is with its commitment to equality.

Javaughn's perspectives are ones that everyone who cares about diversity, and especially white male CEOs, should make the time to listen to. It reminds me of this wonderful story:

There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, “What the hell is water?”

The water in many workplaces is a systemic bias that's so built in that its beneficiaries don't even notice its existence. It's fascinating that even Jamey, who is as present and sensitive to racism as you could ask for, is continually learning.

As was I.

Javaughn's truth-bombs alone make this episode worth listening to. Add to that their combined perspective of the very real and practical journey that Agilian is on, how that shows up in sales, in recruitment, in ops and in delivery.

Because it's not in the PR where anti-racism is made - it's in the work itself, how it's carried out, who does it, and the opportunities that are created.

This is an amazingly insightful episode. Do give it a listen. Wherever you get your podcasts.

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