Grandmother Energy
The Relational Technology* We Need Now
Note: As I get into a regular rhythm of writing for The Soft Stuff is the Hard Stuff, I’m including an article posted on Linked in 7/11/24.
To say that I’m feeling a lot of frustration, fear, and sadness about the state of our world and the trajectory we seem to be headed for is an understatement. I bet a lot of you are feeling some kind of way too. There is no shortage of negative, disheartening news to consume. This week I’ve been confronted by and angsting over the rollback of DEI (Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion) programs in organizations.
Here’s a snapshot of just some of what I’ve encountered just this week:
SHRM announced they are dropping the “E” for Equity from their D
EI acronym and rolling equity issues under “I” for “Inclusion,” a move that has sparked critical analysis signaling to some a cowardly rollover to corporate naysayers while others downplay the decision as simply a rebranding move to make diversity programs more palatable.Fortune Magazine has closed shop on its Race Ahead newsletter, founded by journalist and editor Ellen McGirt, which has been a critical resource for news on race and equity issues in the workplace since 2016. Current editor, Ruth Umoh, who is pivoting to editing a new Fortune newsletter focused on next gen C-suite leaders (I’m glad she still has a job), acknowledged the regressive pendulum swing and rationalized this decision with the logic that race and diversity workplace issues needed to be infused across “all coverage areas.” We will see how that goes.
TechCrunch is publishing and updating a collection of articles on the DEI Backlash in the technology industry, as Zoom, Facebook, and other divest. Notable - the only two visible reader comments from “Peter” and “Mike” seem to applaud and support the dismantling and rollback of tech corporation DEI programs.
On the personal level, I’ve had networking conversations where I’ve been advised to take “Equity Advocate” out of my LinkedIn headline (I’m not going to). And, an accomplished senior consultant, innovative entrepreneur, and groundbreaking author told me she is scrubbing her LinkedIn profile of DEIJ-related content because she’s on the job market and she fears her activism will hurt her employment prospects in this regressive climate.
It’s heavy. I hate the pendulum swing because I only want to see forward progress in realizing equitable workplaces where everyone can contribute fully. I want top leadership to reflect the reality of our diverse demographics. And I want people to be able to apply their diverse lived experiences and perspectives to solving our most urgent, pressing problems.
So what does this have to do with Grandmother Energy?
Last night I caught the tail end of a TV news story about an approach to addressing the overwhelming need for mental health services by leveraging the wisdom, care, love, and acceptance of grandmothers. This program originated in Zimbabwe but is spreading globally. It was spearheaded by Zimbabwean psychiatrist and professor, Dr. Dixon Chibanda, who founded the Friendship Bench program to address the mental health resource gap by training grandmothers - as “the custodians of local culture and wisdom” - in basic listening and problem-solving therapy techniques. These grandmothers walk through villages wearing bright t-shirts to make themselves visible and available to sit and talk with people in simple outdoor spaces.
The Friendship Bench approach has scaled to other parts of Africa, including Botswana, Malawi, Kenya, and Tanzania, and beyond in Vietnam, Canada, and U.S. cities like New York and Washington, D.C. This is true human-centered, life-affirming innovation and it requires little to no technology, only caring and connection. Only. It’s a big “Only.”
In true Butterfly Effect, Andean indigenous healer, ceremonial leader, and author, Arkan Lushwala, as conveyed to Lynne Twist, contends that we are living in a time in which we need and crave grandmother energy.
Grandmother energy is steeped in “wisdom and letting go” and rooted in “the love for life that will allow us to flourish, not just survive, but flourish out of whatever’s going on right now that’s testing us” (Sounds True podcast: Our Evolutionary Leap).
I invite you to take just a moment to sit with and embody this notion of grandmother energy. When I do this it evokes feelings of comfort, calmness, and feeling safe. It’s a feeling I don’t get from thinking about keeping up with the latest AI tools or wondering what’s going to happen in November’s U.S. presidential election.
I don’t have any living grandmothers but I can tap into grandmother energy when I’m in connection with others, practicing ubuntu, experiencing the fullness of my humanity in relationship with others, giving and receiving mentorship and coaching and co-creating new possibilities and futures. These are not easy times we are navigating. We are social animals wired for connection and we need each other to flourish, both in the moment and for the long term. Not every technology involves machines. Innovative solutions can emerge from indigenous wisdom and deeply relational ways of being. How will you give and receive grandmother energy - acceptance, compassion, and love - in your workplace, your community, your family?
* “The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry,” Oxford Dictionary.
** It reminds me of a recorded reading by David Whyte of Mary Oliver’s poem Wild Geese where he repeats and excavates the simplicity and the gravity of the word “only” in the line “You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.”