Over 80 percent of Americans agree that the goals of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are important in workplaces and society. Yet, research shows that a mere 20 percent feel they’ve directly benefited from workplace DEI programs. As traditional DEI efforts in the workplace face disengagement, backlash, and stagnation, it’s time to reimagine this work.

Drawing on historical case studies, deep research, and a decade of the author’s consulting experience with organizations of all sizes, Lily Zheng's Fixing Fairness reveals the four tenets that will shape the next evolution of workplace DEI:

• Outcomes over Intentions: Don’t chase trends. Do what it takes to measurably achieve greater fairness, access, inclusion, and representation for all.
  
• Systems over Self-Help: Don’t fixate on individual biases. Solve the root causes of discrimination by shaping workplace norms, culture, processes, and practices.
  
• Coalitions over Cliques: Don’t just preach to the choir. Build bridges and movements that engage everyone as part of the solution.  
  
• Win-Win over Zero-Sum: Don’t give in to “us versus them.” Create and relentlessly communicate a vision for a better status quo for everyone.

The FAIR framework offers an alternative to both the performative practices of traditional DEI programs and the false promises of anti-DEI antagonists. With clarity, urgency, and no-nonsense practicality, Fixing Fairness charts a new path forward for those committed to creating better outcomes for all.

Lily Zheng recently took the time to respond to seven questions from Porchlight about their new book, why they wrote it, and some other books that they'd recommend.

◊◊◊◊◊

Porchlight Book Company: Writing a book is no small undertaking. What compelled you to write this one?

Lily Zheng: The best books come about when authors write the book they wish they had, and I'm no exception. I waited through 2023 and 2024 as workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts came under attack, hoping that someone would come up with an answer that was more pragmatic than "go underground and wait for the pendulum to swing back." I realized that leaders not only in the United States but around the world were waiting for a better answer to backlash, and that the answer was right in front of us all along. The book was a crystallization of what myself and what so many other leading practitioners have been advocating for over the last several years: an evolution of workplace DEI into something far more measurable, effective, collective, and win-win.

PBC: Writing (and reading) always prompts as many new questions as it offers answers to the ones you came to it with. What is one unanswered question you encountered as you wrote the book that you are most interested in answering now?

LZ: What proportion of leaders still believe that people come first, and are willing to pursue long-term value on the basis of that belief even if it costs them in the short term?

One of the core ideas underlying Fixing Fairness is that our current struggle over diversity, equity, and inclusion is just one part of a larger struggle over whether people matter to our workplaces and organizations. Whether organizations see people as assets to invest in or costs to reduce. If enough leaders believe in the value of people, then our bitter debates over fairness, access, inclusion, representation, and opportunity might still truly bring benefit for us all. But if enough of the decision-makers, the powerful and the influential people in our society, come to believe that people are simply resources to exploit or costs to be trimmed down, then the majority of us lose—regardless of who might "win" the debate over DEI. Which perspective will win out? I believe that as a society, we are trying to answer this question in real time. I truly, genuinely wish for hope and human value to win out over cynicism and exploitation—but it'll take all of us doing our part to create that shared belief. The stakes couldn't be higher.

PBC: If there is only one thing a reader takes away from reading this book, what would you hope it to be?

LZ: That the endless back-and-forth headlines and mass media debate on "wokeism" and "DEI" is a distraction, that the vast majority of us deserve organizations that treat us all better, and that we have all the tools we need to create these organizations today. All we need is the courage, the clarity, and the coalitions to use them.

PBC: One of the great things about books is that they tend to lead readers to other books. What book[s] related to this topic would you recommend people read after (or perhaps even before) reading your book?

LZ: Check out the forthcoming release by legal experts Kenji Yoshino and David Glasgow, How Equality Wins, that lays out a hopeful vision for American society based on similar principles. For adjacent reads that will challenge and push your thinking further, I recommend We Have Never Been Woke by Musa al-Gharbi and Higher Ground by Alison Taylor.

PBC: What is your favorite book?

LZ: I'm awful at picking just one. But some of my favorites include Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower, Kim Stanley Robinson's The Ministry for the Future, and Janet Mock's Redefining Realness.

PBC: What are you reading now?

LZ: Every year I go back (slowly and painstakingly!) through every single Harvard Business Review article published in the previous year, and let myself go down whatever research rabbit holes interest me through that process of catching up. I learn a lot every year, and catch a lot of articles I missed.

PBC: Do you have any future projects in the works that we can look forward to?

LZ: I'm always, always writing. Keep an eye on my LinkedIn to hear about new articles, collaborations, and events as I publish them!

About the Author

Lily Zheng (they/them) is a sought-after speaker, strategist, and organizational consultant who specializes in hands-on systemic change to turn positive intentions into positive outcomes for workplaces and everyone in them. A dedicated changemaker and advocate, Lily has had their work published in the Harvard Business Review, New York Times, and NPR. They are the author of The Ethical Sellout, DEI Deconstructed, and Reconstructing DEI. Lily holds an MA in sociology and a BA in psychology from Stanford University. They live with their wife in the San Francisco Bay Area and can frequently be found putting together yet another all-black outfit and enjoying good Chinese food.

If you'd like to get started now on Zheng's new book, Fixing Fairness, we recently posted an except from the book—"The FAIR Framework: What Comes After DEI"—in our ChangeThis series.