There is an important word in management: optics. It matters at all levels. It means "how things look from the outside to a person not familiar with what is ha

There is an important word in management: optics. It matters at all levels. It means "how things look from the outside to a person not familiar with what is happening inside." At one point, DEI was a high concern for the entire nation, and companies were compelled to do something about it. Some actually made a positive change. Many created a position or team and not much was done. Regardless of what actually happened, the optics were aligned with the priority, and that mattered too. This happens everywhere. The security theater after 9/11 is optics. The graph that you present to your VP showing an increase in code coverage is optics. There might be valuable work also happening, but the optics are important. Without them, people would not see that you are trying to do something.