The Quiet Revolution: Why Your IDEA Work Matters More Than Ever

There's something happening in boardrooms, community centers, schools, and organisations everywhere. It's not always visible, and it's rarely announced with fanfare. But if you're doing inclusion, diversity, equity, and anti-racism work, you feel it in your bones.

It's the moment when a colleague who once championed your equity initiative suddenly goes quiet in meetings. It's the budget conversation where "diversity training" gets crossed out without explanation. It's the way your carefully crafted strategy gets reshuffled again, and again, until you wonder if you're building on sand.

If this resonates with you, take a breath. You're not imagining it, and you're certainly not alone.

- By Powered by Diversity

Karen Blake, Head of Strategy & Consulting, Powered By Diversity.

The Weather Has Changed

We've entered what feels like a different season for equity work. The optimism of 2020, when organisations rushed to make bold commitments, has given way to something more complicated. Some call it backlash. Others describe it as fatigue. But perhaps it's simpler than that: we're learning what it actually takes to change systems that were never designed to welcome everyone.

The truth is, we're working in conditions that feel unprecedented because they are. Our organisations are stretched thin, leadership changes constantly, and the ground rules seem to shift weekly. We're being asked to create transformation while working within systems that often resist the very changes we're trying to make.

But here's what we've learned from practitioners across continents and contexts: these conditions aren't obstacles to equity work—they're exactly why equity work matters.

When Everything Feels Upside Down

Remember when you could predict how your organisation might respond to an equity initiative? When you could map out a strategy and reasonably expect the landscape to stay stable long enough to implement it? Those days feel like a distant memory.

We're now navigating what researchers call VUCA and BANI conditions—two frameworks that help us make sense of why everything feels so much harder right now. Understanding these isn't about adding complexity; it's about giving yourself language for what you're already experiencing.

The VUCA Reality

Volatility means the pace of change has accelerated beyond what most systems can handle gracefully. You see this when leadership changes every 18 months, when policies get reversed overnight, or when your carefully planned equity initiative gets shelved because of a budget crisis no one saw coming. It's not just that things change—it's that they change rapidly and without warning.

Uncertainty lives in the questions that don't have clear answers. Will your role exist next quarter? Will speaking up about that microaggression help or hurt your career? Should you push for that inclusive hiring practice when half the leadership team is new and you don't know their positions yet? We're constantly making decisions with incomplete information, which exhausts even the most experienced practitioners.

Complexity emerges because exclusion and inequity aren't simple problems with simple solutions. The barriers your colleagues face might be simultaneously cultural, structural, interpersonal, and systemic. Your organisation might genuinely want to be more inclusive while also operating in ways that make inclusion nearly impossible. Multiple systems interact in ways that make cause-and-effect relationships difficult to predict.

Ambiguity shows up in the gaps between what's said and what's meant. When leadership commits to "equity" but won't define what success looks like. When job descriptions call for "culture add" but hiring practices remain unchanged. 

The BANI Layer

If VUCA describes the conditions, BANI describes how those conditions affect us and our systems:

Brittle systems look solid until they're tested. Think about how quickly some organisations abandoned their equity commitments when faced with criticism. Or how a single negative news story can make leadership retreat from race-focused programming they'd supported for years. These systems can't bend, so when pressure comes, they break.

Anxiety permeates everything. Staff members are anxious about saying the wrong thing in discussions about identity. Leaders are anxious about public perception and legal implications. IDEA practitioners are anxious about job security and being seen as "troublemakers." This anxiety makes everyone more risk-averse, which stifles the bold action that equity work often requires.

Non-linearity means small inputs can create massive outputs in unpredictable ways. A single social media post criticising your approach to EDI can spiral into months of crisis management. One person's complaint about "reverse discrimination" can undo years of trust-building. Conversely, one authentic conversation between colleagues can shift an entire team's culture. Traditional planning assumes linear cause-and-effect relationships that simply don't exist in these conditions.

Incomprehensibility emerges when systems respond in ways that defy logic or precedent. Why did the organisation that spent millions on inclusion consulting suddenly eliminate all diversity positions? Why are people who used to champion equity work now silent? Why do policies that worked elsewhere completely fail in your context? Sometimes there isn't a rational explanation—systems under stress behave unpredictably.

But naming these conditions isn't about creating more jargon; it's about giving yourself permission to acknowledge that this work has gotten exponentially more complex.

Think about it: you might spend months building trust with leadership, only to have that entire team restructured. You create an anti-racism workshop that's embraced enthusiastically, then cancelled after one negative moment of feedback. You develop policies that look perfect on paper but encounter resistance you never saw coming.

This isn't a sign that you're doing something wrong. It's a sign that you're doing necessary work in systems that are under pressure to evolve, and evolution is rarely neat or linear.

The Underground River

Despite all the turbulence on the surface, something powerful flows underneath. Call it the underground river of equity work—the quiet, persistent current of people who remain committed to justice even when the conditions become difficult.

You are part of this river. Your work matters not because it's easy or because conditions are perfect, but because it creates ripples that reach far beyond what you can see.

Wisdom for the Long Game

So, how do we keep going when the path forward feels unclear? How do we maintain purpose when everything around us feels unstable?

Start with what you can hold

Instead of trying to control everything, identify what's within your sphere of influence. Maybe you can't change organisational policy right now, but you can create a brave space in your team meetings. Maybe the formal mentoring program got cancelled, but you can still have meaningful one-on-one conversations. Focus your energy where it can actually create change.

Build relationships like you're planting a garden

In unstable times, relationships become your greatest asset. Invest in connections across your organisation, not just with fellow champions, but with people who might be curious, sceptical, or on the fence. These relationships will sustain your work long after any particular initiative has been restructured.

Practice radical transparency

Name what's happening without sugar-coating it. If equity work feels harder right now, say so. If you're seeing resistance, acknowledge it. If you're tired, admit it. This isn't pessimism but clarity. And clarity helps everyone involved make better decisions.

Document everything

In times of constant change, institutional memory gets lost quickly. Keep records of what you've learned, what's worked, what hasn't, and why. This knowledge becomes precious when new leadership arrives or when you need to rebuild after setbacks.

Take care of yourself like it's a political act

Your well-being isn't separate from your equity work. It's central to it. In systems that can be draining and demoralising, taking care of yourself becomes an act of resistance. You can't pour from an empty cup, and sustainable change requires sustainable people.

The Long View

Here's what we want you to remember: every major social change movement has faced periods that felt impossible. The people who created the changes we benefit from today didn't know they would succeed. They just kept showing up, even when conditions were difficult.

Your IDEA work is part of a much larger story—one that extends far beyond quarterly reports or annual initiatives. You're participating in the slow, essential work of bending systems toward justice. Some days, that feels powerful. Other days it feels like pushing water uphill. Both can be true.

The organisations and communities that will thrive in the coming years will be the ones that figure out how to create genuine belonging for everyone. Your work is helping them get there. Not in spite of the difficult conditions, but because of your ability to navigate them with skill, wisdom, and heart.

The quiet revolution continues. And you're part of it.