Making difference invisible seems to be an enduring feature of modern society, as does making sure privilege is protected.

I remember the posts I’ve put on LinkedIn that get unusually high traction. In March 2021 I posted (https://lnkd.in/edE8p7HR) while I was half-way through reading ‘Invisible Women’:

“Half the population hidden in plain sight. Essential reading for any man (in the transport sector). I’m half-way through this book & can’t for the life of me work out how society, & transport especially, has got away with such (wilful?) ignorance for so long.”

In October 2023 I posted (https://lnkd.in/ejP9xKwR) about Zoe Cohen being ‘restricted permanently’ by LinkedIn:

“BREAKING: Prominent climate activist, with large following, removed from this platform without – it would seem – any explanation. Zoe Cohen is missing. Please help bring her back.”

And this week I posted (https://lnkd.in/e8PGrPg2) about an anonymous opinion piece published in the BMJ:

“The opinion piece goes on to note: “This is digital genocide: populations of vulnerable people are being deleted. Data on transgender men and women are being deleted.”

Over half the world’s population has been hidden in plain sight across multiple fields including medicine and transport. Brave women who speak up risk being silenced. And now the push back on making difference more visible and embraced is in full swing.

As I’ve noted before, the transport system – taking the UK as an example – has been largely designed by white men with, it seems, white men implicitly in mind. And the irony is that white men are a minority group in society. Most people are not white and male.

A valuable insight I got in my own learning journey about diversity and inclusion came from the notion of the stages of competence.

Stage 1 – unconsciously incompetent: not even aware of the mis-steps one is making and the ignorance that goes with that

Stage 2 – consciously incompetent: becoming more self-aware of the mis-steps one is making and feeling some shame at the mis-steps when they still happen

Stage 3 – consciously competent: making a conscious effort to avoid mis-steps and practice more positive behaviours

Stage 4 – unconsciously competent: automatically behaving in a way that mis-steps are absent or rare

I’ve spoken about this in terms of a sense of moving between the stages.

I now wonder if there is another *state* rather than stage: wilfully incompetent with self-interest in mind?