Thought Industries Celebrates Differences

“I think when you have people empowered to bring ideas that might be out of the box or informed by their culture, it can only bolster a company and have a positive impact. Thought Industries has been great, as a fully distributed company, at bringing us together: being able to reach across teams, participating in our different Slack channels, celebrating each other’s accomplishments, holding up employees at our fortnightly meetings. On Zoom, and working remotely in general, you miss a lot of the nuances when people are speaking. It’s important to me to allow the space to correct when you feel like you’ve interrupted someone, to circle back and acknowledge that.

On a Diversity and Inclusion level, I appreciate the thoughtfulness and intention that’s gone into standing up Thought Industries’ affinity groups and taking the time they really need – it’s not overnight. We’ve had so much support through training, check-ins, budgeting, all to make sure to feel that we have our ducks in a row and we’re ready to promote our group.”

“As a neurodivergent adult and parent, it’s important to me that people like us are reflected in all kinds of spaces. We need to set up ways of thinking and paradigms that accept that neurodivergence is part of life, and part of the workforce. Recently, many workplaces have been making efforts to accommodate more and more people – finding amazing talent and honoring who they are.

At Thought Industries, our neurodivergent affinity group is working on building an acceptance and support system; we’re getting to know the challenges for folks inside and outside of work and we can celebrate wins, share experiences, and talk about resources. It’s a real community that goes beyond the bounds of just talking about work. It’s important to me to assume positive intent – especially in an all-remote environment, it’s important to give the benefit of the doubt, and to ‘be human first.’”

“My goal – in life and in work – is ‘be better, do better,’ which means being able to recognize and understand that other folks are going through their own things. Our culture here at Thought Industries is so open and welcoming, so we’re able to develop these meaningful relationships with other people even though we’re remote. Being there for each other – and not judging – allows this sense of community to be even stronger.

I had always been ashamed of my dyslexia and ADHD, and I would rarely tell people about it. My first manager here, instead of looking at it as a negative thing, showed me an online tool to make things easier and simpler. I was amazed – here was this executive I had just met, offering me a tool to allow me to bring my work to the team in a better way. Allowing people with different abilities to use these different entry points opens a company up to so many skill sets, and a new kind of success.”

“To me, diversity is ‘a lot of a lot.’ It’s having multiple modes of thinking, and learning, relearning, and unlearning from those modes. It’s a lot to define, but I think ultimately, it’s about wanting to see the barriers classifying populations become smaller and smaller.

I try to remember that I don’t know everything, so I keep my mouth shut a lot of the time. I’m learning to not always go with my gut reaction when I’m confused or when I want to brush something off – because if someone’s bringing it up, it matters to them. I need to figure out why it matters, and ask myself, ‘should this matter more to me?’ It’s important to me to put the people who have historically been last, first. I want to continue to work with and for them, for that’s what is to be done.”

“I’ve witnessed diversity initiatives at many organizations, and it’s something I’ve seen make a company great, letting different ideas and backgrounds inform the way they communicate and operate. I don’t believe anybody in this world is better than anyone else, and that needs to be at the root of any company’s culture. Diversity and Inclusion can be really embedded across an organization – from employee benefits, to product features, to hiring practice, to the marketing copy – it’s all part of what can make a business successful. I’m proud that Thought Industries is moving this direction, and also acknowledges that it’s a never ending process. We’re now getting to a place where we’re thinking about it for hiring practices, we’ve established four affinity groups, and diversity is now a priority line item for board members.

Inclusion, to me, is a constant decision every day. You have to be so aware of it – everything you write and publish and say. As I’ve taken on leadership roles, what I try to resonate with most is making space for others – it’s not about me. It’s about supporting different voices and different learning styles. I’m trying to make sure I’m supporting others and pushing them forward. The strongest leader doesn’t always need to be the loudest voice in the room – and I say that as an extrovert.”

“It’s always important to have different backgrounds and experiences to provide input – it makes for a more functional team and helps everyone go further than if they were all from the same background.

For me, inclusion starts in everyday life. It’s about me making a point to train myself in these subjects outside of work, then bring that mindset with me to the workplace. Everything, from podcasts and books, to who I follow on social media… I want to make sure I’m constantly being educated. I think that knowing that sometimes you’re going to be wrong is an important piece of it – that you’ll do or say something that someone else doesn’t think is the right move. Being willing to be wrong and instead focusing on being an open-minded listener is key.”