Conscious Inclusion: How to ‘Do’ EDI, One Decision at a Time

by Catherine Garrod

How to ‘do’ EDI… Unless you’re consciously including people, you’re almost certainly unconsciously excluding people. Discover 99 decisions and 5 simple habits for creating more inclusive organisations, inside and out. Rather than top-down change initiatives involving huge teams, Catherine Garrod advocates for combining skill and will to guide people in their everyday thinking. Then developing reporting to create social accountability and track departmental progress. When every voice is heard, every person is empowered and everybody takes action, the outcomes are extraordinary. This is the ‘how to’ book of EDI*. Catherine led Sky to become the most inclusive employer in the UK, with 80% of teams increasing their diversity. Now as the Founder of Compelling Culture she blends the power of listening and data to transform the organisations she works with, collaborating with leaders and their teams to define the practical actions they can implement today, tomorrow and the day after. …one decision at a time. *Equity, Diversity, Inclusion

338 pages, Paperback

Published April 25, 2023

About the author

Catherine Garrod is the author of Conscious Inclusion: How to ‘do’ EDI one decision at time and founder of Compelling Culture. She works with organisations to determine whether people from underrepresented groups are having the same good experience as people from overrepresented groups. Then defines specific actions to boost the experience for colleagues, customers and communities.

Rather than top-down change initiatives involving huge teams, Catherine advocates for combining skill and will to guide people in their everyday thinking. Because unless you're consciously including people, you're almost certainly unconsciously excluding people.

Previously, Catherine led Sky to become the Most Inclusive Employer in the UK, with 80% of teams increasing their diversity. Now as a consultant she combines the power of listening, employee engagement, diversity and inclusion, to make the complex simple - by absorbing an organisation's purpose and providing practical actions that can be implemented today, tomorrow and the day after.

Reviews

[Jamie Bowen · Rating 5 out of 5]

EDI is a complex and big issue, and is not easily tackled. So, this book from Catherine Garrod, who led Sky to become the most inclusive employer, provides a really practical book on how you can do your own gap analysis and develop a roadmap to become more inclusive. An excellent book.

[Mukesh Gupta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advanced digital copy of the book to read and here is my unbiased review:

What I liked about the book:

- If there is one word that I can use to describe the book, it would be "Comprehensive". The author has covered almost every aspect of Equity, diversity and inclusion topic that could be relevant in a given business. She talks about 99 decisions that business leaders can make to bring EDI to the forefront.

What could have been better:
- Another word that I can use to describe the book is "Overwhelming". In times when leaders are pressed for time and attention, when survival is not guaranteed, expecting so many decisions to be made becomes overwhelming, even thought we could start small and wherever it makes the most sense and grow from there. The mere presentation of 99 decision points is overwhelming and there is a chance that the leaders might leave all these decisions to be made at a later date, which we all know, never happens.

[Monty · Rating 5 out of 5]

~ Conscious Inclusion by Catherine Garrod ~

I had the pleasure of speaking to Catherine a few weeks ago and loved her energy, so I decided to buy and read her book!

It's great. 

She starts with building a solid understanding of what EDI is through simple definitions, making the language of inclusion clear!

Her insights into why EDI is hard is honest and in many ways a relief to read, I think we can all feel a little lost and overwhelmed, especially on topics we don't know about or experience.

Most of the book explores practical steps organisations can take to be more inclusive and based on actual experience, which is the best part.

One to dip in and out of or read through to improve awareness 📚📚

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book on inclusion I’ve read that gives practical advice and real examples of what to do instead of just talking endlessly about inclusion. Definitely a book I could see re-reading often. She breaks it down into 99 decisions, so pick a few to start, evaluate, and pivot if need be, and keep building on your successes.

[Chloe I · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear takeaways - and lots of them, I liked the resource section at the end with articles, books and videos to look at