Oral Presentation by Bjørn Z. Ekelund ¹, Fred Steier², Joanne Barnes³
¹ Human Factors AS, Norway ² Fielding University, USA ³ Indiana Wesley University, USA
TIME: Tuesday, 14 July, 14:30 – 16:00
Location: Room 2
Session: 6
Abstract
This contribution explores how the Diversity Icebreaker (DI) seminar can be reframed to strengthen radical innovation and systemic change. The DI tool, used globally for almost three decades, creates a shared language through the socially co-created categories Red, Blue and Green. While this approach has been successful in building psychological safety, trust and positive interaction, its impact has been mainly limited to immediate communication benefits inside the seminar room. In a time where DEI work is highly contested, and where solving complex “wicked problems” requires new forms of collective meaning making, we propose shifting the learning goal of the seminar towards deliberate reflexivity. By expanding Stage 4 of the DI process, the reflective phase, participants can explore how categories, identities and inside/outside dynamics are socially constructed in organizations and society – and how alternative framings may enable different outcomes. This shift moves attention from individual preference differences toward the design of structures, practices and narratives that enable more inclusive, human centric development. Reflexivity at individual, team, organizational and societal levels can generate dialectical tension between the current state and future possibilities, mobilizing coordinated action beyond incremental improvement. Re-framing DI in this way transforms it from a communication tool to a platform for deliberative change processes. This increases its relevance for actors working with diversity not only as inclusion and dialogue, but as a strategic resource for radical innovation, responsibility and societal resilience.