This IS Working! Launch Event Photo Gallery

Is DEI Doomed – Or Could It Still Succeed?

Tuesday 4 November 2025

* Missed it? Watch the podcast episode capturing the main points *

Diversity, equity and inclusion sounded so good – so how did some aspects of ‘DEI’ turn out to be such bad business? Was it the ideas, or the execution? Are activists to blame, or did leadership fail? And what’s needed now: a reset or a reckoning?

This was an evening of frank discussion and robust analysis among senior business professionals, plus special guest Alex Edmans, Professor of Finance at London Business School and author of May Contain Lies: How Stories, Statistics and Studies Exploit Our Biases – And What We Can Do About It.

Part 1: Was there ever a business case for DEI? As the downstream impacts of poor DEI policy and practice become clear, Alex Edmans scrutinised the big ideas and bad data that convinced senior leaders to invest heavily in demographic diversity in the first place. Who told them it would boost productivity and profit? Why was the ‘McKinsey myth’ so persuasive? If demographic diversity doesn’t deliver results, what type of diversity does? And is there a stronger case for DEI when it incorporates equity and inclusion?

Part 2: Where to, next? Building on Alex’s recommendations, we called on the expertise within our audience to contribute questions, reflections and insights of their own about where DEI went wrong – and how we can make it right.

A big thank you to Ruffer for hosting our launch event, and to everyone who joined us for some very lively discussion!

Photos: Jas Lehal Photography