22 Apr Robert Livingston: Creating a New Game Plan
InflexionPoint Podcast
Episode 83 | April 16, 2025
Dr. Robert Livingston on Creating a New Game Plan
Tune in to the latest episode of InflexionPoint Podcast where we are dedicated to antiracism activation and the art of listening in authentic conversation, engagement, and action.
The core question of this episode:
How can Black people attain prosperity and peace of mind despite the enduring presence of racism?
2025 Theme: Community Engagement and the Grassroots of Change
“The difference between a solvable problem and a solved problem is knowledge, investment, and determination. And the goal of making organizations more diverse, equitable, and inclusive is within our capability.” —Dr. Robert Livingston, Harvard Professor of Social Psychology
Dr. Livingston asks a powerful question in his highly anticipated book releasing in September, Play the Game. Change the Game. Leave the Game.: Pathways to Black Empowerment, Prosperity, and Joy
In this book he flips the script, asking: How can Black people attain prosperity and peace of mind despite the enduring presence of racism? He reveals three pathways to Black empowerment, prosperity, and joy: Play the Game. Change the Game. Leave the Game.
Call to Action
#StayWOKE – Well-informed. Open-minded. Kind. Empathetic.
#VOTE – Voices Organized To Empower.
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EPISODE DESCRIPTION
In this episode we focus our attention on the evolution of Dr. Robert Livingston, a Harvard Professor of Social Psychology and leading expert on the science underlying bias and racism in organizations. His previous book, The Conversation (released in 2021), was hailed as an essential tool for individuals, organizations, and communities of all sizes to jump-start dialogue on racism. His new book (releasing in Sept 2025), Play the Game. Change the Game. Leave the Game. has flipped the script asking, “How can Black people attain prosperity and peace of mind despite the enduring presence of racism?
Introduction - Dr. Robert Livingston
Dr. Robert Livingston is a social psychologist and leading expert on the science underlying bias and racism in organizations. He is a practitioner whose passion is the application of social psychological theory and research to solving real-world organizational and societal challenges. For two decades, he has served as a diversity consultant to Fortune 500 companies, public-sector agencies, and non-profit organizations. We’ll discuss 3 of his publications:
- Harvard Business Review Article: How to Promote Equity in the Workplace (2020)
- The Conversation: How Seeking and Speaking the Truth about Racism Can Radically Transform Individuals and Organizations (2021)
- Play the Game. Change the Game. Leave the Game.:Pathways to Black Empowerment, Prosperity, and Joy (Sept 2025)
Segment 1 - Promoting Equity in the Workplace
“As intractable as it seems, racism in the workplace can be effectively addressed. Because organizations are small, autonomous entities that afford leaders a high level of control over norms and policies, they are ideal sites for promoting racial equity. Companies should move through the five stages of a process called PRESS.”
Segment 2 - The Conversation
Dr. Livingston’s groundbreaking approach to combating racism was detailed in his book The Conversation: How Seeking and Speaking the Truth about Racism Can Radically Transform Individuals and Organizations published by Penguin Random House in 2021.“The difference between a solvable problem and a solved problem is knowledge, investment, and determination. And the goal of making organizations more diverse, equitable, and inclusive is within our capability.”
How can I be a part of the solution? In the growing calls for racial justice many business leaders and ordinary citizens were asking that very question. The Conversation provided a compass for all those seeking to begin the work of antiracism, addressing three simple but profound questions:
- What is racism?
- Why should everyone be more concerned about it
- What can we do to eradicate it?
Segment 3 - A New Question Arises: How can Black people attain prosperity and peace of mind despite the enduring presence of racism?
Instead of waiting for White people to change, Black people must prioritize their own prosperity, power, and self-determination by navigating, challenging, and exiting racist systems-a radical argument from a Harvard behavioral scientist.
Dr. Livingston asks a powerful question in his highly anticipated book releasing in September 2025, Play the Game. Change the Game. Leave the Game.: Pathways to Black Empowerment, Prosperity, and Joy. He flips the script, asking: How can Black people attain prosperity and peace of mind despite the enduring presence of racism? He also reveals three pathways to Black empowerment, prosperity, and joy: Play the Game. Change the Game. Or Leave the Game.“Robert Livingston contends that racism operates like an addiction for so many White people: hard to admit, and even harder to quit. Given their unwillingness to kick the habit, where does this leave Black people?”
Segment 4 - Personal Reflection: What does my journey forward look like?
Play the game: find ways to work within mainstream, predominantly White systems without sacrificing your identity or dignity.
Change the game: challenge the status quo in an effort to upend White supremacy (e.g., antiracism activism)
Leave the game: turn away from White environments to carve out spaces where Black people can flourish—from HBCUs to entrepreneurship to the creation of ethnic enclaves. Ethnic enclaves are geographic areas with a high concentration of people from a specific ethnic background, often characterized by shared cultural identity and economic activity. (e.g., Black Wall Street Tulsa OK, Ujamaa Collective on the historic Hill District in Pittsburgh PA, and Greenwood Plan also in Pittsburgh PA)
Discover more from FEARLESS GROWTH INCUBATOR: THE PLACE TO SOAR
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Posted at 12:04h, 30 Aprilalluring! Reports Highlight [Social Justice Movements] and Their Impact 2025 magnificent