Organizational Goulash
The much-misunderstood
value of diversity
© 2003 by Michael Finley
Strategic thinker Gary Hamel describes the four corners of a
major intersection in Toronto, each of which housed one of Canada's
largest banks. The nation's banking brains were entirely clustered in one
spot. They hired from one another, imitated one another, and breathed the
same air as one another.
What were the odds, Hamel asked, of a startling new idea
occurring within any one of those four banks?
That example highlights the problem of achieving diversity
within organizations. We see diversity as a sorry obligation; James
suggests we see it instead as a strategic opportunity.
Mention the word diversity in most organizations, and up
go the hackles. We call in the corporate lawyers, or the public relations
team, anyone who can protect the organization from the disruption of
forced inclusiveness.
It's a shame that diversity carries the connotation of
compliance -- diversify or else. While it is human nature to like what is
like us, and to be leery of that which is unlike us, we know in our hearts
that difference -- different ideas, different backgrounds, different
points of view -- is one of the most powerful attributes any organization
or team can have. The argument from nature is powerful. In genetics, lack
of diversity is called overbreeding. Purifying bloodlines weakens the
breed -- the Heinz 57 is more durable than the pedigreed dog.
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Metallurgists know that a mix or alloy of metals is invariably stro
Jennifer James