Watching the Oscars is a guilty pleasure. Who is wearing what on the red carpet. Will the host shine – as Jimmy Kimmel did this year – or bomb – as Kimmel’s mentor, David Letterman, did in the past. Will there be embarrassing moments, like Sally Field’s “You really like me” acceptance speech a few years ago. Or like this year, when Fay Dunaway mistakenly announced La La Land – rather than the real winner, Moonlight – as the Best Picture.
There are lessons to be learned from this year’s awkward moment – attention to detail and grace under pressure among them – but I believe more important was when Jimmy Kimmel, less than two minutes into his opening monologue, acknowledged that our “country is divided right now” and asked the millions of people watching to “reach out to one person you disagree with, someone you like, and have a positive, considerate conversation, not as Liberals or Conservatives, as Americans. If we would all do that we could make American great again. We really could. It starts with us.”
In other words, Kimmel was asking everyone to support practices that foster greater diversity and inclusion. Diversity is a core Day & Zimmermann value, and we believe that diversity and inclusion can help us have meaningful conversations as we listen to find value rather than to find flaws. Our goal at D&Z is not to solve all the world’s problems, but to leverage our differences and unique ideas to spur innovation and robust solutions for our customers.
Did you draw any other connections between the event and our values? Did you view any of the nominated films and walk away with a lesson on one of D&Z’s core values of safety, diversity, integrity or success? I welcome comments.