Workplaces have ‘lost tolerance for diverse perspectives’

An anthropologist says we’ve lost our ability to disagree – and it’s impacting our workplaces in a big way.

A leading anthropologist has warned HR professionals that political correctness and cancel culture have created an environment of toxic hyper-positivity – and organisations are missing a vital strategic edge as a result.

“We’ve gotten to a point where we have intolerance for sitting with diverse perspectives and have lost the capacity to handle disagreements,” Dr Monty Badami, anthropologist and founder and chief executive of Habitus, said.

Humans have thrived and evolved due to physical and cultural diversity, as well as diversity of ideas. Now, however, social media algorithms are feeding an “us and them” mentality, which has led to a loss of nuance.

“We feel like we can’t say anything because we’re going to offend somebody. We’ve lost opportunities to use disagreement and difference to grow as a community, as people,” he said.

Badami will share strategies to overcome this and more at Bold Ideas in HR 2025, coming to Sydney on 19 June. He will join a line-up of pioneering and purposeful speakers designed to inspire, challenge, and evolve people leadership in forward-thinking Australian businesses.

“Cancel culture is not only ineffective, but it can create anxieties and self-censorship in the workplace,” he said.

“We need to hold institutions and public figures to account, but we also need to support people to learn through their mistakes.”

He advocates for a culture of accountability and empathy rather than punishment and shame.

“We shouldn’t be teaching people how to get it right, but how to deal with it when they get it wrong,” he said.

Badami said the global political and economic climate is starting to affect our narratives of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

“We have worked so hard to get here. Why are we willing to just give this up? Because some dudes in America whine that the world is not run by people that look exactly like them?” he said.

He challenges that people asking whether diversity is still a “thing”, were never really committed in the first place and only ever saw it as a box-ticking compliance exercise.

Badami’s keynote will dare people leaders to connect and scale deep into the core of what it means to be human.

Bold Ideas in HR 2025 registrations are now open. Secure your spot today.

For more information, click here.