Two things brewed in my mind this week. The Yorkshire Cricket Club race debacle, and an interview with John Barnes on the Jonathan Ross show speaking about his new book ‘The Uncomfortable Truth About Racism’.

The title of this piece is not a quote from anyone in particular, but is a typical statement made by someone who assumes that by taking up a position that means they are absolved of responsibility and are cleared of having a tendency to discriminate. This is humanly impossible, ignores the possibility of unconscious bias and doesn’t help anyone.

Roger Hutton who just resigned from the The Yorkshire Cricket Club is said to have told BBC Sport that there is no one at the club that he would ‘”personally consider racist” but admitted their culture is “locked in the past”. Whilst I applaud somebody taking some form of responsibility such a statement completely misses the point. He is indeed right, the culture is locked in the past – so far so that it it doesn’t even realise that what one ‘personally considers’ is exactly the problem.

I wonder also about Michael Vaughan’s reaction. ‘Completely’ and ‘categorically’ denying such claims publicly appears defensive as opposed to helpful. It may well be true that he didn’t say those words. But, his and other people’s statements, as well as the decision to the board to hire someone from another background (Lord Patel) appears to be actions based on panic as opposed to a clear plan.

Change is, indeed, needed. But knee jerk reactions (even if they are are in the name of more diverse representation), as opposed to a blend of a clear transformational plan, transparency in communications and a willingness to admit failures can actually be much more harmful. It can delay further the chance to create positive meaningful change that everyone REALLY believes in. The risk is that the cricketing world and indeed society end up misinformed due to a short-term narrative that The Yorkshire Cricket Club may think they need to be making when sponsorship dollars are at stake. The fact is that there is evidence that shows us that a longer term plan for cultural change is actually better for enduring profit but it takes time, and executives rarely want to look that far.

In this interview with Sky News John Barnes raised the same point he did on Jonathan Ross. All of us have to look at ourselves and our own prejudices, and just because we don’t ‘act’ out that doesn’t mean we are not ‘racist’ or ‘sexist’ etc etc. A great quote he uses from Martin Luther King is ‘Shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will’. This strikes at the heart of the kind of approach we’re seeing from the Yorkshire Cricket Club thus far.

But, the club is not alone. We are living in a time when organisations know they need to change but I observe many flapping about creating policies and tick box exercises versus committing to programmes for real transformational change.

The Third Culture believes it really is possible to transform, if you can keep an open mind. It doesn’t have to be difficult but it might be uncomfortable.