Inclusion or Exclusion …

One of the things I love so much about the world, is the diversity it offers. I have been to well over a dozen countries, lived, trained and interacted in a variety of cultures - and met a wide variety of vastly different human beings. Awesome.

We are all different; we are not the same; and this brings me to my topic … I am not going to talk about ‘inclusivity’ … but rather, ‘exclusivity’; yes, there is another side to the coin!

Human beings need to ‘exclude’ others, on occasion. Top tier special operators, for example - exclusive. This group of people should not include people, just for the sake of quota-filling - or just so can be seen as inclusive. No!

The mental model I use is pretty easy to understand; imagine a pyramid shape ( I drew this simple one) the long bottom-edge represents maximum inclusivity - the pointy bit at the top represents maximum exclusivity; here are a few examples: 

Public policing - very inclusive. Specialised policing - less inclusive. Tier One operator - highly exclusive.Himalayas: visiting Kathmandu - very inclusive. Visiting Everest base-camp - less inclusive. Summiting Everest - highly exclusive.Sport: Dart competitions - very inclusive. Combat Sports - less inclusive. Olympic weightlifting - highly exclusive.

Not everyone can do everything; not should they. There are a thousand things people can choose do; some things are simply beyond some peoples reach. Escalator to the summit of Everest; Starbucks installed at every rest-point. I think not. I wonder what kind of world our children’s children will see? It will be up to the millennials and their own children to fight for which version they thing is best.