Too often I see comments like “some people would rather focus on inclusion than write good code.” Not only is that a false dichotomy, but it completely misrepresents the relationship between the two. Inclusion doesn’t come at the cost of good code, it’s a necessary part of good code.

We don’t write code for the sake of writing code. We write code for people to use it in some way. This means that the code needs to work for the people. In order to do that, the people designing and implementing the technology need to consider different experiences. The best way to do that is to have people with different experiences be on the team. As my 7th grade algebra teacher was fond of reminding us: garbage in, garbage out.

But it’s not like the tech industry has a history of bad decision making. Or soap dispensers not working with dark-skinned people. Or identifying black people as gorillas. Or voice recognition not responding to female voices. What could go wrong with automatically labeling “suspicious” people?

I’ll grant that not all of these issues are with the code itself. In fact a lot of it isn’t the code, it’s the inputs given to the code. So when I talk about “good coding” here, I’m being very loose with the wording as a shorthand for the technology we produce in general. The point holds because the code doesn’t exist in a vacuum.

It’s not just about the outputs and real world effect of what we make. There’s also the matter of wanting to build the best team. Inclusion opens you up to a broader base of talent that might self-select out.

Being inclusive takes effort. It sometimes requires self-examination and facing unpleasant truths. But it makes you a better person and if you don’t care about that, it makes your technology better, too.