Intentional diversity: driver of innovation

  • Marco van Aarle

Creating an inclusive corporate culture goes beyond a noble ambition; it necessitates a purposeful approach and well-thought-out strategies that actively cultivate diversity. Companies that prioritize diversity do so not only for ethical reasons but also because they recognize that a diverse team of individuals brings a wealth of perspectives, skills, and experiences. Intentional diversity, when strategically planned and executed, becomes a catalyst for creativity, innovation, and problem-solving.

What does intentional diversity mean?

Intentional diversity means adopting an inclusive recruitment approach, offering equal career opportunities and rewards, and offering diversity training. It additionally requires leadership that practices diversity on all fronts. The ultimate goal is to integrate diversity principles throughout the organization and ensure they produce measurable results.

"A truly inclusive society is one where everyone feels at home and respected."
Desmond Tutu - Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize (1984)

“Intentional diversity drives creativity and success in modern, inclusive organizations.”

Moving from hierarchy to team diversity

Modern organizations often shift from a traditional hierarchical structure to a team-based structure. When combined with inclusiveness, team composition also requires intentional diversity. Diversity in teams involves not only gender, age, or cultural background but also cognitive diversity and differences in knowledge and experience.

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“Assignments focused on fast execution benefit from less diversity, while innovative team assignments require higher levels of diversity.”

Tips for intentional diversity

Tip 1: Increase the number of women on your teams. Research on collective intelligence shows that teams with more women often perform better, possibly because of increased social intelligence.

Tip 2: Give teams with members of different ages time to appreciate each other. Age diversity can contribute positively if there is time to get to know each other better.

Tip 3: Promote leadership that fosters a supportive and inclusive environment. Cultural diversity can improve team outcomes, but success depends on effective communication and collaboration.

Tip 4: Leverage diversity in knowledge and experience for innovation. This type of diversity is precious in innovative contexts where there is time for mutual learning.

Tip 5: Value cognitive diversity in thinking styles. Different thinking styles enhance innovative capacity if there is an equal cognitive level and sufficient time for knowledge exchange.

Learn also 8 tips to avoid bias

Always intentional diversity?

It is essential to recognize that the benefits of team diversity depend on the team’s objectives. Assignments focused on rapid execution may benefit from less diversity, while innovative team assignments require higher levels of diversity.

Organizations that want to use team diversity intentionally must learn about the team’s purpose and the assignment’s starting conditions. This goes beyond following a trend; it is the responsibility of organizations to use diversity principles successfully and meaningfully to improve business performance.

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