Better Think Tanking #14
We’re back! After an unplanned break - because life happens - we’re ready to share with you all the good stuff that has piled up on our newsletter content stack.
We were happy to hear some of you missed BTT as the monthly nudge for reflection in your inbox. But not sending any newsletters in the last months was also a personal success: we realized we expected a little too much from ourselves (sounds familiar?), managed to change course, set priorities, and say no. So may this be your reminder to not be your own strictest boss and be kind to yourself instead.
BTT on Tour
We’re proud that BTT embarked on its first overseas business trip to New Delhi in 2023! Sadly, Sarah ended up going alone. She got to discuss how to make foreign policy more inclusive, what a feminist foreign policy could mean, and how to build up a new generation of proponents for inclusivity and justice at the Raisina Dialogue 2022. You can watch the session recording here. Thanks to the Observer Research Foundation for the kind invitation and for believing in the importance of our mission.
Check Your Solutions Privilege
It is ironic how many privileged folks bring up the fact that people complain without offering “solutions,” while also not offering solutions to problems. It’s meta. Next time someone says something like “I wish people would stop complaining so much about funding/taxes/racism/toxic-masculinity/etc., and offer more solutions,” just tell them “I wish people would stop complaining about people complaining without offering solutions without offering solutions.”
Ever heard of solutions privilege? Yah, neither did we, but it’s one of these concepts that get to the heart of what you experience but cannot put into words. Solutions privilege is privileged people (white, male, powerful, etc.) expecting solutions that are easy, immediate, align with their worldview, and don’t challenge their privileges.
Vu Le offers advice for the privileged (and we’re certain that this, dear reader, applies to you as much as it does to us). So here we go.
Acknowledge your complicity in a problem and don’t expect those affected to solve instead of whining about it.
Don’t be oblivious or dismiss the many solutions that affected people propose because you don’t like them; listen and discuss.
Ask yourself: do you think that only the privileged are capable of proposing good solutions (“If those affected (…) could propose solutions that work, why are they still poor and marginalized?”)?
Stop hyper-focusing on solutions and start acknowledging the existence of systemic injustices.
Wondering to what extent this applies to yourself? Find out about your privileges with Sylvia Duckworth’s illustrated wheel of privilege and power:
Fostering Diversity and Inclusion in Think Tanks
In our last issue, we gave a sneak peek of insights from the Think Tank Lab’s community challenge on diversity in German think tanks. Since then, a lot has happened and the challenge has concluded with two original publications, a diversity dossier full of resources, and the launch of #teamDiversity - a network of people who will continue exchanging good practices and promoting inclusion in the think tank sector and which you can all join!
The first challenge that the group tackled was the question of how to make hiring processes more inclusive to help talents realize their full potential. The guide “How to hire for diversity and inclusion” gives some practical tips:
In job postings, remove language biased towards certain backgrounds. Avoid references to “top-tier universities” and institutions that offer unpaid internships.
In the candidate screening process, remove all information disclosing diversity dimensions. Want to take it to the next level? Remove names of universities.
Factor in that applicants who need a working visa face extra hurdles and invest time, money, and nerves. Signal understanding and provide support.
Once hired, install regular feedback loops. They are especially relevant for first-generation migrants who may be adapting to a new working culture.
If diversity and inclusion are part of your job description, also take a look at “Diversity officers in think tanks: How to make an impact in your first 12 months”.
Embracing Mediocrity
In the predominantly white spaces I occupied for all of my academic life and most of my career, excellence became the armor I used to try to shield myself from anti-Black racism and sexism in the workplace. It didn’t work.
Reflecting on her experience, Kathleen Newman-Bremang calls for a shift from striving for Black Excellence to embracing mediocrity. Her reasoning: the pursuit of Black Excellence has turned from an aspiration into an expectation and perpetuates rather than dismantles structural injustice. Also, it’s exhausting to constantly feel a need to exceed expectations while working yourself through structural injustices without receiving the same reward as your white, male colleagues.
Instead of “striving for more in structurally white supremacist systems [that] won’t make you happy”, Kathleen wishes for Black women to redefine mediocrity. She doesn’t mean becoming one “‘(…) of the Chads and the Todds (...), who often come into a meeting with all of the audacity and none of the shame.’” Instead, she wants you to prioritize your well-being over your work - work that you often do for people who have a different definition of your worth.
White Women’s Responsibility To Undo White Supremacy
You comprise 80% of the workforce [in global development] and while you may be well-meaning and altruistic in your reasons for working in this sector, white privilege and white supremacy has resulted in much harm being done to your Black and Brown colleagues and the black and brown people you serve.
The AMPLIFY series “It’s On You” comprises submissions from Black women, Indigenous women, and women of color about the ways white women must be working to undo white supremacy in global development. The above quote is from a text by Lazenya Weekes-Richemond who does us all a great favor by outlining five practical steps to help break down structures of oppression. It’s about acknowledging biases, giving up privileges, and being a true ally. Most importantly, she asks us to stop “hiding behind gender inequality” and begin calling out all other inequalities.
What We Are Thinking About
We’re thankful for everyone who shares insights on how to make work better. If you have an insight, maybe even one you learned the hard way, help others figure it out. We’ll be happy to help spread the word.
Like What You Read?
Tell us about it - even if you didn’t. Forward this newsletter to a friend, tweet it, and help us inspire more people.
Thanks to all friends who sent us heaps of BTT-worthy content in the last months. We may have lost track and fail to always give credit for individual pieces, so here’s a shoutout to some prime allies Sofie, Santiago, Claudia, Ilja and Marie.
Take a break every now and then, you’re already doing well!
It’s great to be back,
Theresa & Sarah