How Doing "Nothing" Can Increase Diversity - The Secret of Trinidadian Liming

I would like to introduce everyone to one of the greatest gifts that island of Trinidad has given the world and it might just play a vital role in increasing diversity in the workplace.

It is called “liming.”

Now every Trinidadian who is reading this will instantly know what I am talking about, as will most people of Caribbean heritage.

But for the uninitiated let me explain...

“Liming” in many ways is the opposite to what most people know Trinidad for - Carnival.

While carnival is all about lively music, dancing, “jumping up” and general raucous behaviour, liming is all about relaxing. One online dictionary defines liming as “hanging around, usually in a public place with friends, enjoying the scene”. I found another academic paper that describes it as “the art of doing nothing.”

So how on earth could “doing nothing” increase diversity?

The secret is revealed in another academic paper titled “Caribbean liming: A metaphor for building social capital” Professor Emeritus at Nova Southeastern University Ruth Clarke and Reccia N Charles of St George's University, West Indies.

According to the paper the more people hang out “liming”, doing “nothing”, the more they “build networks, trust, information and communication exchange, social cohesion, political empowerment and collective action”.

These are all the elements that are needed to improve career success:

The more you build your networks the more successful you are in finding work.

The higher the level of trust between individuals, the more likely they will employ you and recommend you to potential employers.

Increases in information and communication better the chances you will know about new job opportunities.

Each of these points go to make up what sociologists call “social capital” and it is commonly recognised that the higher your social capital the more successful you are in your career. Therefore increasing the social capital of women, BAME (Black Asian and Minority Ethnic), disabled people and other underrepresented groups is key to increasing diversity in the workplace.

Now I know what some of you are thinking - isn’t this just the same as networking events?

No! In fact it is the exact opposite of networking events.

Overt networking events are transactional. People go there with the explicit motive of either finding a job or looking for someone to fill a position. Networking events are like a marketplace of people trying to sell themselves to a potential employer.

They build about as much trust and honest communication as a second-hand car salesroom. Networking events are one of the worst ways of building social capital.

"Liming” on the other-hand is about building trust over time.

Without the pressure of buying and selling you slowly get to know people - dare I say it you build “friendships”.

I’ve seen this happen a few times in my career.

In the 90s the weekly black newspaper The Voice used to go to print on a Thursday. It meant that all the journalists had filed all their pieces by Thursday evening and so to unwind they would go to the Z bar in Brixton for a drink. They were doing nothing - they were “liming” - but Thursday nights at the Z bar soon became the weekly place to hangout for all black journalists, whether they worked for The Voice or not, and the best place to build connections.

I saw it again just a few weeks ago when I recently gave a speech on diversity. The place was full of people interested in diversity in the media industry; from senior TV execs to junior researchers. Before and after the speech I saw people just “liming” hanging out, doing “nothing”, but they were building friendships and trust and most importantly “social capital”.

And I regularly see the benefits of liming in Beijing (as far away from Trinidad as you can get). On a weekend my wife and I are often liming with other parents of kids who go to the same school as our son. We have both received several job offers as a result. And we've also been able to recommend friends for potential jobs as well.

So if liming is so important to increasing social capital how can broadcasters use this fact to increase diversity?

My advice is that they need to put on more events and/or sponsor events where people can just “lime”. Sponsor more talks such as the one I was at in April, put on more screenings or even give more money to media organisations representing diverse groups to simply put on parties.

Now I am not suggesting broadcasters get rid of their networking events (there is a place for second-hand car showrooms) but if we want to increase sustainable diversity we should all try to be a little more Trinidadian - relax and lime.