Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 4 hours ago
Our CEO/Founder, John Rice, delivered the Class Day address to Harvard Business School's 900 graduates and their families. This is the second half of his speech, where he challenges commonly-held thinking on the concept of “meritocracy,” which has evolved from a management buzzword to become a central battleground in the current debate over America's core identity. He argued that:
🔹 A true meritocracy requires a level playing field for everyone, and he uses the analogy of what it feels like for those who are deeply uncomfortable on the dance floor to explain how the playing field in our organizations today is not level for those who are one of one or one of a few.
🔹 Efforts to level the playing field (whatever we call them) are not threats to meritocracy – instead they are the scaffolding that allows meritocracy to flourish.
🔹 Current and future leaders should not fall for the false narrative the right has been spreading about how any efforts to create a level playing field are anti-meritocratic and discriminatory. Instead they should take steps to build and sustain truly meritocratic organizations, those in which everyone has the genuine confidence they belong.
If you’re interested in hearing more, check out the full speech here: youtu.be/S81u__Tf-WE?si=wv0xL7OpDwBrgIQh
Our CEO/Founder, John Rice, delivered the Class Day address to Harvard Business School's 900 graduates and their families. This is the second half of his speech, where he challenges commonly-held thinking on the concept of “meritocracy,” which has evolved from a management buzzword to become a central battleground in the current debate over America's core identity. He argued that:
🔹 A true meritocracy requires a level playing field for everyone, and he uses the analogy of what it feels like for those who are deeply uncomfortable on the dance floor to explain how the playing field in our organizations today is not level for those who are one of one or one of a few.
🔹 Efforts to level the playing field (whatever we call them) are not threats to meritocracy – instead they are the scaffolding that allows meritocracy to flourish.
🔹 Current and future leaders should not fall for the false narrative the right has been spreading about how any efforts to create a level playing field are anti-meritocratic and discriminatory. Instead they should take steps to build and sustain truly meritocratic organizations, those in which everyone has the genuine confidence they belong.
If you’re interested in hearing more, check out the full speech here: youtu.be/S81u__Tf-WE?si=wv0xL7OpDwBrgIQh
