HOW DIVERSITY WORKS
Being around people who are different from us makes us more creative, more diligent and harder-working
The first thing to acknowledge about diversity is that it can be difficult. […] It is reasonable to ask what good diversity does us. Diversity of expertise confers benefits that are obvious – you would not think of building a new car without engineers, designers and quality-control experts – but what about social diversity? What good comes from diversity of race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation? Research has shown that social diversity ∈a group can cause discomfort, rougher interactions, a lack of trust, greater perceived interpersonal conflict, lower communication, less cohesion, more concern about disrespect, and other problems. So what is the upside?
The fact is that if you want to build teams or organizations capable of innovating, you need diversity. Diversity enhances creativity. It encourages the search for novel information and perspectives, leading to better decision-making and problem-solving. […] Even simply being exposed to diversity can change the way you think. […]
People who are different from one another ∈ race, gender and other dimensions bring unique information and experiences to bear on the task at hand. A male and a female engineer might have perspectives as different from each other as an engineer and a physicist – and that is a good thing. […] [It was found] that companies that prioritized innovation saw greater financial gains when women were part of the top leadership ranks.
Racial diversity can deliver the same kind of benefits. […] For innovation-focused banks, increases ∈ racial diversity were clearly related to enhanced financial performance. […]
Diversity is not only about bringing different perspectives to the table. Simply adding social diversity to a group makes people believe that differences of perspective might exist among them and that belief makes people change their behavior. […] They assume they will need to work harder to come to a consensus. This logic helps to explain both the upside and the downside of social diversity: people work harder ∈ diverse environments both cognitively and socially. They might not like it, but the hard work can lead to better outcomes. […]
This is how diversity works: by promoting hard work and creativity; by encouraging the consideration of alternatives even before any interpersonal interaction takes place. […] we need diversity – ∈ teams, organizations and society as a whole – if we are to change, grow and innovate.
By Katherine W. Phillips, The Science of Overcoming Racism, Scientific American, Special Collector’s Edition, Volume 30, Number 3, SUMMER 2021
The text informs us that when working together, people from diverse backgrounds
