Equity is Doable, Part 6: Stop Trying to Be Right – A Blog Series by Ryan Adcock

At Cradle Cincinnati, we believe that if Cincinnati’s employers and service providers are more equitable, our birth outcomes will be more equitable too. Conversations about racial equity are often filled with academic jargon and can feel more philosophical than practical. This is the sixth in a series of posts where we will outline real life decisions we are making in an attempt to grow into a more equitable organization. 

I’ve woken up every day for the past 8 years with the same question in my head: why are kids dying in my community? I’m obsessed with gaining better and better answers to this question so that our team can build better and better solutions. Yet, this pursuit of knowledge can be foolhardy without a healthy dose of humility. No matter how much I learn, no matter how many scientific studies I read, even if I reach true expertise in the field, my real answer to this question is this: I don’t fully know. No one does. 

Many of society’s most intractable problems are not easy-to-solve math equations. But, far too often, this is how we treat them. As though if we just find the right model or invest in the nonprofit buzzword of the year, we can solve huge inequities. Nonsense. I became a much better leader when  I stopped spending so much time trying to be right and spent more time trying to be curious.  

The community can tell the difference between someone who thinks they have all the answers and someone asking good questions. It is impossible not to have a posture of close-mindedness if you enter the world convinced that you have all the right answers and that things would change “if only people would listen to you.” No one came here for your lecture. But they are here for your sincere invitation to help. They’ll show up repeatedly, and with energy, to change outcomes for their city once they are invited wholly into the process.  

For most of society’s hardest to solve issues, there is no “right” answer – not yet at least. The social sector should never stop valuing evidence. It matters deeply that we pay attention to what is and isn’t working. But, we also need to stop pretending like we have perfect solutions. Non-profit leaders are too often incentivized to be constantly selling their work and not often incentivized enough to be stretching the limits of their impact. I’ll stop everything to hear someone talking about the problems they still need help solving – the places their work is failing. 


Curiosity strengthens your knowledge. Many of us grew up in schools that taught us that science is a list of facts. It’s easy to forget that science is actually about the slow, steady pursuit of knowledge. Admitting that you don’t know the answer is at the very heart of the scientific method. Curiosity, not certainty, is what leads to truer truths. We have to get this right if we want more equitable outcomes. Our history is filled with examples of White people approaching Black people with what they claim to be the right answers.  The not so subtle message is that the answer to inequity is for everyone to simply act more White. That’s dangerous and untrue. The answers to our most complex problems require insights from the people who are closest to them. Let’s be more curious about completely new solutions…especially those ideas that come from those who’ve never been asked what they think.