Diversity of thought and perspective

There is a lot of talk in the business world about diversity leading to better outcomes and higher profitability. This is both true and false. It is true, in that having a diverse set of perspectives can lead to creative and outside the box thinking. That diversity comes from people with different backgrounds and ways of thinking who have a common goal and are working cooperatively to achieve that common goal. 

Diversity does not come from a bunch of people who happen to look differently from each other, known within organizational behavior as surface-level diversity, but who all have the same ideas and are all educated at the same schools. Diversity does not come from racial quotas or by hiring people with different sexual proclivities. It comes from finding people who have passion for the work but who come at it from different angles.

I would argue that the most important diversity is diversity of opinion and thought, also known as deep-level diversity. Getting a bachelors and then a masters degree at two major US universities, Penn State and NC State, has taught me that formal education is not as important as most people think. One of the most successful people I have ever had the privilege to know, never graduated from high school. What you learn is a product of what you pay attention to, not what your title is on a piece of paper. 

The radical culture generated by college life is artificial and dysfunctional but it is spreading into the business world. I saw this first hand during my courses at NC State and experienced it first hand at my last job, where initiatives were put in place to specifically demonize and push out highly skilled and effective people based on a misguided idea of diversity, purely based on surface level ideas. The most important diversity comes from background and experience. No one should be evaluated on what they look like, only what value they can add to the team. 

Effectively incorporating deep-level diversity will help level up any organization but falling victim to the false surface-level diversity idea that is being currently pushed can tank one. There is a reason that “get woke go broke” is a saying. Focus on finding the right people, no matter what they look like. With that in mind, owners, managers and leaders should look outside their industry, outside their usual recruiting areas and outside their comfort zone for new people to bring into the organization.

Thank you for reading, I look forward to supporting you in any way I can. Drop me a note on LinkedIn, at my email address stratton@downeaststratmc.com