CLOSE-UP: EXAMINING KITE VALUES

“Values are not absolute truths. They are not attempts to reduce the complexity the life to a word or slogan. Their usefulness is in creative tension they provide, between what we are and what are trying to grow into.”

Please join this series of four explorations of the values that ground the work of KITE. Your comments and thoughts are welcome: This is not a solo journey or a one-way prescription for others, but rather an invitation for all of us to walk together.

We start with VALUE #1: DIVERSITY.

We hold diversity — of gender, culture, race, expertise — as a vital and essential means for the pursuit of knowledge, understanding, and the establishment of justice and equity.

Our creativity, our resourcefulness, our capacity for managing complexity, our ability to read our “reality” and see the fullest range of possibility all depend and have always depended on the diversity of our collective, the degree to which the systems we create are equitable and all voices are honored.

This value has been at the heart of KITE’s ethos and mission since its inception and it is the firm foundation for norms on how we recruit and onboard, how we consult, how we form consulting teams, how we invest in our learning and development and who we strive to serve.

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Recognizing that this word has become heavily weighted over recent years, how have you expressed this value in your organization? What challenges have you faced in defining, executing, and living Diversity? Are there moments of clarity that have shown up in the practice of your work, moments that have increased the capacity or effectiveness of your team?