• encouraging inclusive language,
• eliminating bias in hiring and pay scale,
• being public by default, and
• going beyond metrics.

OUR RESULTS?
Shifting from an organisation almost entirely staffed by men to one where women are in the majority, a close-knit workplace which avoids regional and linguistic silos, and a supportive community that values skill above all.

In our world today, conflicting realities are the norm.

Organisations have diversity and inclusion strategies, leadership buy-in and ongoing earnest efforts. But at the same time, some preferential treatment is rampant — such as the intake from the "elite institutions", an inside track to "people like us" and the "smoking bay" information channel. Other measures, like menstrual leave announcements, spark bitter word wars.

India has the lowest female workforce participation. The most educated women have to choose between work and having a family. And yet, data on gender-based pay disparity is not raising eyebrows.

On the one hand, Sustainable Development Goal 5 is regressing due to COVID-19. However, research shows women on company Boards boost the bottom line, and recently, the Indian IT industry has responded favourably.

The world is amid a massive change in engaging with equality, that is equal parts conflicted and messy. This is the dark teatime of the soul, for societies at large, and organisations within. At Obvious, we've navigated similar conflicts, and have tried to emerge out the other side. 

In the beginning, in the lore of Obvious, there were three young urban men with shared values and privileges, who hired others just like them.

Building products at country scale, they realised that the opinions of those entirely unlike them were what made the products truly robust. Representation across genders, regions, languages, life experiences, age categories and more set them apart.

Translated: Diversity as a competitive advantage.

This realisation helps us embrace and emboss diversity into the Obvious DNA. Our current guardrails include:

Despite good intentions, we will make and learn from our mistakes. Our people — often, those impacted — will call these out with shock and anger. We will feel uncomfortable or almost respond emotionally. But we will also accept our flaws, ensure that our goalposts shift in line with maturing systems, and invite more people to find solutions to fill these gaps and lead the charge.

The diversity and inclusion umbrella will keep expanding to include more tenets of equality, and we will continue to keep an open mind.

Rinse and repeat.