A seat at the table.

The danger of metaphors that do the opposite of what was intended. 

We hopefully all agree that to move forward with futures thinking, we need to make sure we have everyone in the room, with a voice. We need to practice inclusion until it is second nature.

And inclusion means everyone.

EVERY ONE.

There is much talk about ethnic, gender and sexual orientation inclusion, and finding ways to open the doors for younger people to have a voice - and these are all signs of progress, but as we spend more time on digital platforms with ultra-fast broadband, we must remember to include those without access to these tools of today (and tomorrow), otherwise we will only be creating the vision of preferred futures, from the perspective of the privileged, and perpetuating inequity.

The danger of 'used metaphors' and unconscious colonial bias.

Words matter, and even when we use metaphors to illustrate a point, or right some wrong, we can get it wrong. Because often the metaphors we use most often come from our own world view.

One of the most obvious and unintentional colonial biases we need to either modify or just stop using is;

" Diversity is giving someone a seat at the table. Inclusion is giving them a voice at the table"

Let's unpack this for a moment - because as well intentioned as it is, it does nothing to remove the colonialism from the metaphor.

It still means, "We (the privileged) are inviting you, (the poor, the under-privileged, the minority), to the table".

The table? Who still owns the table? We do. The privileged.

We need to think differently, meet people where they are, and change the metaphor to be truly inclusive. Perhaps, 

"Hey, let's find a space together, a place where can sit in and do our work, together."