In his identity-redacted, 10-page note, this seemingly senior, male employee of Google compares the merits of biology in job performance. Girls are nicer, boys are better coders. Google’s left-leaning tendencies are slung about like a semi-polite slur.

Meanwhile, in his piece in the Harvard Business Review, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman talks of an upbringing where mindfulness of his privilege and of those less fortunate was taught and reinforced.

Whether it's in the classroom, boardroom, nightclub, or courtroom, these two perspectives spar and jab in the discussion on diversity and privilege from the tents of those in power.

CEO Kermit (played by Peter Thiel):

“There's a reason for my success, and it’s only by the merit of my own hand.”

Also CEO Kermit (played by Dan Schulman):

“I’m doing great, but we are all humans. Interconnected we are.”

As individuals and as organizations we have different perspectives, because by definition we have all had different paths. We are often internally conflicted, unsure of which Kermit will be driving the bus today.

OK so, what's to be done

Discussions on diversity in a “democratic “ society is so tired, tangled, and torn that to even approach it takes a different type of thinking. The data supports the value of diversity in terms of its impact on innovation, the quality of research, and plain ol’ fashioned profit. For me, my left lizard brain wants to focus on the data and the money, while my right lizard brain wants to trumpet the social mission of why it’s the right thing to do. My rational mind knows the solution must include both.

There are some decidedly bright spots in tech that take this approach. The promise of Dan Schulman’s customer-focused approach is realized in Paypal’s effort to make money less expensive to the poor. It is shown to his shareholders in the rise in the value of his company. And nobody's perfect, but that level of cohesion between mission and results cannot exist without empathy.

Tesla stockholders wanted more outside influences on their board. Elon Musk and Co. responded by appointing both 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch and Johnson Publishing Company CEO and Chairman Linda Johnson Rice, Tesla’s second woman and first African American. The promise of Ms. Johnson Rice bringing her full life experience to the boardroom of Tesla and the ripple effect on Silicon Valley has me shewk.

How do we talk to each other

Empathetic dialogue among people of differing ideologies is the only path forward in truly realizing the promise of diversity. Yet, at the intersection where our ideological paths cross, blockages in the diversity dialogue persist.

Admittedly, finding common ground with those with whom you disagree, either at the macro or molecular level, is hard as hell and takes an emotional toll on all. But how do you encourage empathetic dialogue? Might I suggest looking for a guiding principle among the words of “Son of Baldwin”:

“We can agree to disagree and love each other unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist.”

The Google letter is particularly horrible in that, while touting himself as a fan of ideological diversity, the author goes on to, among other zingers, describe women’s biological inferiority as the reason for the gender gap in pay. He has questioned a woman’s right to exist in tech.

I for one can not even agree to disagree with an ideology that does not acknowledge each human as an individual, with their own stories and their own skills and their own set of experiences to bring to the party. A premise based on stereotype is inherently flawed, inhuman, and a conversational non-starter.

Is it so difficult to admit that our life path forms our ideologies? That we are all the sum parts of our life experienced through our own upbringing, access, education, race, gender, ability, and privilege? That what we've experienced in our development as humans has formed the way we think about the world? That when brought together, our unique perspectives are the anti “group-think”? If ideological diversity is what this Google employee pines for, he’ll need more than just cisgender, straight, white, able bodied, American-born men to get there.  

VP of Storage Infrastructure Products at Google, Ari Balogh, the guy to whom the letter writer reports, is quoted as saying in his internal Google+ post, “Building an open, inclusive environment is core to who we are, and the right thing to do. ‘Nuff said.” So what is your official word Google? If you stand for diversity, you have to stand for empathy, and here's a chance to lead. This is a teachable moment.

-Marc