Why is diversity of thought important for today's organizations? Diversity of thought goes beyond the affirmation of equalitysimply recognizing differences and responding to them, Deloitte researchers wrote in a 2013 study. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. The more differences of perspective and experience we can gather around us, the more we can know. From my own experience in the corporate world, they're not surprisingessentially what I would expect. One key indicator of business success is the total addressable market, the size of the audience you can appeal to. What holds us back from thinking critically in day-to-day situations? These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodation. Many of us want diverse people and experiences to be a part of our lives, such as gender, race, age, sexual orientation, educational experience, accomplishments, cultural background, religion, interests, appearance, family composition, and political beliefs. At our credit union, we decided to reset the clock for all of our existing board members. Emotional conditioning is how people are shaped by their parents emotional responses to them early in life. Different backgrounds and thought processes bring unique viewpoints to the organization that help tackle problems for optimal results. While those things certainly explain a component of diversity, it's only part of what diversity includes. Diversity, equity and inclusion in the military are necessities for the United States, Bishop Garrison, the senior advisor to the secretary of defense for human capital and diversity, equity and . https://www.piie.com/publications/working-papers/gender-diversity-profi, Dixon-Fyle, S., Hunt, V., Dolan, K., & Prince, S. (2020). Consider a workplace where several people on a leadership team have a dominant behavior style. The point she seemed to be making was that you can have 12 different ethnicities of various ages with an equal number of males and females, yet you may not be fully maximizing the opportunities to drive diversity if you are not also considering diversity of thought. Do you think an organization can. The second member is a 32-year-old woman, heterosexual, African American, unmarried, Catholic, and has a masters degree in special education. formId: '1e6e67c5-c13c-4ba8-b192-808bd5c72cc3', The opinions expressed in this content do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Newsweek or the Newsweek Expert Forum. And its that same openness and passion for diversity of thought that makes her team feel included, empowered and inspired each day. They are a mix of people. Add your name & email address to subscribe to our monthly happenings! As a manager, you talk with your people and you get different opinions, different backgrounds, different ways of looking at the same situation. Understanding local problems, developing localized and innovative solutions, and breaking into new markets requires a diverse team with expertise in and knowledge of different cultures, languages, and geographies. They decide the viewpoint has merit and most of them decide to change their plans about employee benefits. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. To be clear, increasing and maintaining the numbers of underrepresented individuals in our academic spaces is necessary, but it is not nearly sufficient. However, leaders are increasingly agreeing that a diverse workforce yields more innovation and is all-around higher performing than a homogenous one is. Why is diversity important in the workplace? (A to Z) The Value of Diversity A diverse environment has multiple benefits for personal development. Inherent diversity, which describes the characteristics we traditionally think of when we think about diversity. Are you ready to implement policies in your workplace that help advance an inclusive culture? This begs the question: Why is diversity so important? At its core, diversity feeds a curious mind. Why do we want it? Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. Of course, given the diversity of these regions, we knew we could only identify and resolve local problems with local expertise, starting with the optimization of South Africas minibus taxi industry. How to Make Diversity Work in the Workplace. Why is diversity important in the workplace? Why is Diversity Important? - Diversity for Social Impact By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Once a core value connection is established, another important consideration is diversity. Deb believes that as a leader, she needs others to challenge her thoughts to ensure shes thinking broadly enough. If its always the way you think, youre going to be very narrow minded in your decisions and in your outcomes.. Diversity of thought, which would come from multiple types of people, and often unexpected people, would be what would make Uncle Nearest a brand beyond its diverse roots, competing with august . We expect them to be divergent in their thoughts and viewpoints due to their other diversities, but they are not. Thought diversity is often the result of other types of diversity because the way we think is shaped by the cultures and experiences weve lived. https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/featured%20insights/diversity, Victor Lipman is author of The Type B Manager: Leading Successfully in a Type A World. Three-quarters of friends with benefits either dissolve or change form in the span of one year. Learn About Columbia's Role in Building the First Atom Bomb, New Study Pins Time of Greenland's Last Melting to Some 400,000 Years Ago, A GSAPP Professor Focuses on the Overlap Between Climate Change and Social Justice, NYC Parks and Columbia Announce Partnership on City of Water Day. This leader has been known to sit back, listen, let the others reach some sort of consensus, and only then speak up and voice an opinion. Implementing processes that celebrate thought diversity means opening yourself up to the idea that your way is not the best way. To retain employees with family obligationsan important type of acquired diversity, especially in sectors dominated by young workersmanagers may need to offer remote work policies. That includes people who are analytical as well as imaginative, and organized as well as highly creativecognitive diversity.. 20 Tips for De-Escalating Emotional Situations, Cracking the Secret to Genuine Confidence, When Your Child or Teen Says Im Bored!. Several people, who work for both non-profit and government agencies, form a bi-weekly group that meets after work. Rick Bowers is president of TTI Success Insights. Now, though, recruiters and managers have coined a term for this kind of variety: thought diversity. By integrating both, your organization will form a mosaic of differences that fuels ideas and new strategies for growth and innovation.. Were a female founded company where women represent the majority of our leadership team. Create contextOffer specific behavioral examples to help your team understand the why behind the feedback you are giving them. The McKinsey Study revealed some interesting statistics about diversity. The benefits of diversity in the workplace A good reputation Making better decisions Lower employee turnover Creativity and problem-solving Productivity Increases Diversity issues in the workplace Communication Barriers Unreasonable Prejudices Professional Etiquette in Different Perspectives As a CEO, I welcome being challenged by my board and my management team. Self-centered people can immediately attract others with visual and auditory cues. A diverse workplace makes employees feel safe to express their perspectives and their needs. It actually helps us finish the project, and finish it better.. They are motivated by maximizing resources and controlling their own destiny. If youre unsure about the feedback youre providing, that will come across in your conversations with your team. Want to start a journey towards building a high performing culture? Used under license. While those things certainly explain a component of diversity, its only part of what diversity includes. This is important because it builds an atmosphere of freedom of thought, thus encouraging creativity and innovation. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. Caucasian people do not think differently than African Americans. In my nearly 25-year career as a faculty member and advocate for diversityracial, gender, or otherwiseat Columbia, I have had the opportunity to be involved in many memorable moments on campus. To achieve our ambitious goals we need to not only attract the best and brightest people in their field, but more importantly the people that are the best fit for the company. True diversity leads to more innovation and better outcomes when it extends beyond ethnicity and gender to also include background, age, and modes of thought. We can help. This is the time to take stock of the University's progress, which was recently recognized via the national Higher Education Excellence in Diversity award, while also keeping our sights on the opportunities ahead of us to improve further. Diversity enhances creativity. Freedom from resentment and pain can follow the decision to let go. I believe that gender, racial, geographic, and cultural diversity are important to every organization and play a significant role in business growth. Creating diversity on your board takes time and intention, but it can also create a more secure, collaborative, and innovative environment for any organization. The presence of these different groups in an organization leads to a diversity of thought. There are millions of perspectives that existin the best way. Every city and region struggle with unique industry challenges. Exposure to dissimilarity of thought is grasping a diversity unlike all others. No matter who Im speaking to, where theyre located or what their background is, Ive found that there is someone on the team at BigSpring that understands where they are coming from. When we launched our Global Health Initiative, which aims to improve access to care for the worlds most underserved and vulnerable populations, the importance of diversity became even clearer. With humility, servant leaders encourage their boards to be unafraid to question them. He is a member of the African Methodist Episcopal church and works as a package handler at the airport. Investing in her own development uncovered Debs superhero strengthempowering others to be their best. We believe that a community of well rounded professionals from all ethnicities, nationalities, educational backgrounds, and genders fosters an environment of new ideas and innovation. What Happens to Your Emotions in Therapy? Why Survivors of Family Trauma See Themselves in Prince Harry, How Family Estrangement May Benefit Trauma Survivors. The third new person is a 38-year-old married, transsexual Caucasian woman, with a college degree, who was formerly an Air Force pilot. The remainder lies in diversity of thought. Longer-tenured board members might cycle off sooner, freeing up space for new board members. Why is diversity of thought important for today's organizations? The newcomers listen to the summary of the generous benefits everyone else believes they should offer. And, being open to diversity of thought is a key component of becoming a great leader. Recognizing that these barriers exist, we have committed to creating pathways to overcome them. Diversity Wins: How Inclusion Matters. Your team feels like its been running in circles without a solution in sight. Diverse groups and diversity of thought produce a myriad of positive outcomes, including more innovative solutions to complex problems, more productive collaborations, and richer learning experiences. Explanation Diversity is a broad concept that refers to the acceptance of views and opinions from different cultural, social, and age groups. Capital One is a federally registered service mark. At Dorae, having a diverse team means we connect the dots in new ways, because we can borrow novel perspectives from each other and build on an experience set that spans the world and generations. Organizations are more sensitive to biases and negative . Diversity of thought is the sharing of individual opinions, values, facts, beliefs, and emotions in a manner that is different than the majority. What will they offer future employees in their new companies? Rick has led development at TTI Success Insights for over 30 years and is a current member of the Hartman Institutes Board. Daniel Nathrath (Founder and CEO, Ada Health). Cognitive diversity isn't just new packaging on an old idea about the dangers of surrounding yourself with "yes men.". We have employees from all over the world - USA, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Russia. Creating teams with people from diverse backgrounds, departments and specializations can be a great checks and balances system for any organization. We are very proud of the team and appreciate that we have a very loyal workforce. Diversity can improve the bottom line of . This conditioning follows two patterns. Seize opportunities to celebrate a wide variety of types of achievement and out-of-the-box thinking. Diverse thinking is not something for which we use our eyes. As with the Peterson research, the McKinsey study found a clear linkage between "gender diversity on executive teams" and "above average profitability. Taking it even further, including additional information, such as their level of emotional intelligence, can be a strong indicator of how a person will perform in a certain situation and whether they are capable of succeeding under pressure. Twitter Has Undeniably Gotten Better Under Elon Musk, Israel Protests ExplainedWhy Millions Fear Nation Is Becoming Dictatorship, Cold Case Breakthrough as Retired Pastor Charged With Girl's 1975 Murder, Republicans Want to Give Americans an Extra $4,500 for Having Kids. One of the newcomers agrees with what has already been discussed about generous benefits, but two others do not. Increased screen time and COVID lockdowns caused children to lose social and conversational skills. In fact, our team is a group of individuals from different backgrounds and parts of the world. To be clear, increasing and maintaining the numbers of underrepresented individuals in our academic spaces is necessary, but it is not nearly . en: { From his unique perspective as the named defendant of two seminal Supreme Court cases on affirmative action, Bollinger laid out a case for diversity in education as both a scholar and advocate. Even if it is a whole new way of approaching the employer and employee relationship, diversity in the workplace is integral to growth and innovation within an organization. Broadly speaking, diversity of thought is a concept which champions the idea of bringing together individuals from different cultures, backgrounds and personalities to share their thoughts.. At what stage of diversity awareness was the leader. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon put it like this: "I think the most important strength is that you're trusted and respected by peopleThat you know you don't know everythingThat you're willing to change direction." Traditionally, credit union board members are homogenous, long-tenured, and often share similar stories. We seek an array of people and experiences because we believe it enriches life and because it appears fair to everyone to be included in the whole of human experience. For example, a management team of 10 individuals all hailing from different backgrounds has a higher likelihood of developing ideas that cover a broader spectrum. This op-ed originally appeared in the Columbia Spectator on Jan. 20, 2017. It encourages the search for novel information and perspectives, leading to better decision-making and problem-solving. Is your impression correct? Introducing new players adds an element of unpredictability to the process. You just met The One or maybe a shady character. When diversity and inclusiveness are prominent in our academic institutions, we all benefit. Board members must look at their strengths and competencies, meeting agendas, and strategic sessions to compare the current state of the board versus the desired state then identify the gaps between the two. What does diversity mean? For example, is there anyone on the board who understands cybersecurity or emerging technologies? They feel valued because of Debs open-door policy and empowered to express both frustrations, as well as their successes. Im really excited about where weve come as an organization in training. Especially when were working with so many people across different sites, its important to be able to voice your opinion and disagree with people in a way that doesnt make it personal. Despite its potential benefits, family estrangement continues to be stigmatized. But what about the children? What good is promoting diversity if everyone thinks the same way? ). The richness of conversation in our classrooms is enhanced by diverse voices. The Oct. 13 panel \"Being the Change, Leading the Charge\" brought the topic of diversity in higher education to center stage. The two not in agreement say benefits should not be so generous as to avoid lowering profits. We cannot see it in others. translations: { Data driven decisions allows for less and well controlled overtime, fewer unnecessary steps, and higher levels of safety and predictably. 'Diversity of Thought': be very careful - CGI Some diversity comes from traits people are born with; other forms of diversity are acquired through life experiences. I learned as much from the people around me as from class. Thats where the alignment to core values becomes critical. Is Gender Diversity Profitable? Companies with two-dimensional diversityleaders who have both inherent and acquired diversity traitswere 45% more likely to report year-over-year market share growth than companies without it, according to a 2013 study. Growing Acceptance, Diminishing Discrimination Promoting diversity is the first step to not just "tolerance" but true inclusion and acceptance. What Is Thought Diversity and Why Is It Important - Contract Recruiter Two recent eventsa panel moderated by University Provost John Coatsworth and a lecture by University President Lee Bollinger on the medical center campushighlighted the University's commitment to diversity. The Importance of Diversity of Thought Rick Bowers 5 min read Published in May/June 2019 View in Magazine The word "diversity" often conjures images of a workplace consisting of people from different backgrounds, cultures and genders. Chrissa McFarlane (Founder and CEO, Patientory). When you're wrestling with complex business problems for which the solutions are not at all obvious, perspectives matter. Also, the chance of coming up with new and innovative ways of doing things is significantly higher with a diverse workforce than one which has few variations in it. Ridding yourself of bias or an aversion to individuals perceived as different will allow you to enhance your companys culture. Our Board Governance Committee meets monthly to discuss the current state of the board's governance practices. Propy is female led, and we have always seen this as one of our biggest strengths and this is the DNA of the company. Safe thinking wont change the world, but diverse thinking can. We learn as much from each other and from our wildly diverse market as we ever learnt from studying. Why Have Diversity In Science? - Forbes Typical." In order for diversity to succeed we have to connect to a wider diversity of people and perspectives. The Certified Professional in Training Management Program. However, acknowledging the fact that more diversity is needed is not enough change often only occurs when bold moves are made. The Board of Directors is the heart of an organization. Understanding any challenge starts with understanding the people it impacts. We are a small yet highly collaborative team working to improve population health outcomes. We all benefit from the accelerated pace of innovation spurred by interdisciplinary research; we encourage students to work and study in groups because we know that diverse perspectives and collaboration enhance learning. For those new to management roles or those who have led teams for several years, this training provides ample investment in individuals as they take on leadership responsibilities. For Deb, a senior operations manager, cultivating a team culture with an emphasis on diversity of thought is her superpower. Why diversity within your organization matters fundamentally | World Youre never going to grow if you dont consider other perspectives. Why Survivors of Family Trauma See Themselves in Prince Harry, How Family Estrangement May Benefit Trauma Survivors, 10 Reasons Being Single Can Be an Excellent Option, 3 Simple Ways to Improve Any Relationship, 4 Ways Gaslighters Attempt to Ruin Your Self-Esteem, Cutting and Running From Relationships Comes With a Cost. The key to successfully implementing diversity is to have a staff with diverse backgrounds and diverse thought. Good business necessitates examination from every angle to uncover new approaches and discover new opportunities. Over the last 15 years, I've noticed a growing push toward diversifying these credit union boardrooms. The Newsweek Expert Forum is an invitation-only network of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Diversity not only improves performance but also creates positive friction that enhances deliberation and upends conformity. Versatile believes the first step for any improvement is measuring and setting the bar to unlock the future. The group goes about their work together. Solved Why is diversity of thought important for | Chegg.com Columbia is in a unique position to lead its peers with respect to diversity, including in the area of faculty diversity. Being that a workplace can be considered as an ecosystem in itself can bring about the understanding of a workforce being a population. Diversity of thought, as discussed above, is a key factor in building successful teams. It's also not just another way of saying that if you let conflicting ideas and perspectives rub up against each other for a long enough time, eventually something positive will come from it. When hiring, it is important to distinguish potential employees whose values align with the companys core values. Across Avanci, and our sister company Marconi which supports us, the nationalities, race, gender and age of our people are as diverse as they are among our clients. These teams can challenge company strategy, products and preconceived notions with unique and different viewpoints. ", This study also makes the key point that the value to an organization comes not from installing a single woman as CEO, but from developing an organic pipeline of female managers. Be open-minded and accepting that there are infinite ways to think about even just one thingits a powerful, empowering and freeing truth. Its this diversity of thought and behavior that allows the leadership team to see all sides of a situation before rushing to take action. After eight months, three new members join the group. The most effective way to ensure that your company is fostering a diverse workforce starts with leaders expanding their own professional circle to include diversity in: Internal referrals are the most effective way to hire for diversityexpanding your personal and professional circles to include a diverse group of individuals ensures that you have connections to a variety of people that could later bring value to your company. For managers used to like-minded people, it means opening yourself up to being told youre wrong, or that your way is not the best way. Thought Diversity in the Workplace The fact is, there are well-known substantive studies, containing ample hard data, that clearly demonstrate the positive value diverse thinking brings to the business world. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. This semester, which has been marked by a number of high-profile scholarly events in addition to the usual vigorous conversations around diversity and inclusion, has been particularly memorable. It became a catalyst for us, amplifying the responsibility we felt to be a voice in the industry calling for others to rise to the challenge of ensuring diversity and health equity within their organizations, communities and the world. Homogeneity of thought may cripple us from making a better world. Researchers such as economist Scott Page have systematically studied this phenomenon, and their research empirically supports what we see anecdotally. The value of diversity, on its own and as an essential component of excellence, is clear. Focusing on diversity in the hiring process may be an entirely new mindset for your company.