Advancing women has always been seen by the Jewish community as the problem that will take care of itself over time. This is the first assumption that needs to be challenged.
The second assumption to be challenged is that people will respond when they see the evidence of gender bias, that their innate sense of fair play will level the playing field.
The third assumption is that, in a "can-do" community, every problem should be presented with the accompanying ready-made solution.
But moving the Jewish community from gender inequity to gender equity is a deep change, an adaptive challenge rather than a technical problem.
Technical problems can be solved by logic or expertise. Adaptive challenges are about values and beliefs.
To meet adaptive challenges, people have to be willing to experience the loss of what is familiar and comfortable. To achieve true parity between men and women - both in their involvement and their leadership - will mean that we are willing to expose the gap between the espoused values of our organizations, as expressed by the people at the top, and the real values, as embodied in our day-to-day behaviors.
Real change in organizations and communities takes time - seven to ten years, according to the experts. To sustain ourselves through the long process of change, we need to celebrate the small wins and consolidate them into big victories.
