Every parent has heard this from their children as we tow them along in a car, bus, plane or train during a vacation trip-are we there yet?

It is a natural inclination of all human beings this insatiable desire for instant gratification. We want the best and we want it now. We are hard wired to have our own way. We are obsessed with the short term at the expense of the bigger picture.

“Are We There Yet” syndrome applies to the notion of diversity and inclusion. The thing everybody wants but avoids at the same time.

Some folks are asking another question when it comes to diversity and inclusion-can we go back home? To workplaces where men dominate, to households where women do all the work, to workplaces where the glass ceiling is still the norm, and to segregated schools, religious institutions and neighborhoods where people look like, talk like and act like each other.

They are fatigued by the challenge diversity and inclusion presents to their status quo and power. They are tired of the mandatory trainings that say they are unconsciously biased. They long for a simpler workplace that looks like 1965 instead of 2018. They want to be great again by going backwards.

When it comes to diversity and inclusion, we ignore the critical examination we must do on ourselves to flush out our biases. We avoid the difficult conversations we should have particularly with people who are different from us to understand their uniqueness. We point the finger at the other person by claiming they are the problem. We make marginal sacrifices for diversity and inclusion and think we have done our part. We let other things invade our lives that make us too busy to build inclusive workplaces. We get afraid of the sacrifice that diversity and inclusion demands by fooling ourselves into thinking it is not a priority.

Are we there yet when it comes to diversity and inclusion? My dear child, some of us have not even started.