Training Industry Magazine - May/June 2019 - 18

Understanding a person's behavior style
is a great place to start. Having this
knowledge explains how the person
regularly operates. When you add the
component of motivators, you now also
understand why a person behaves in a
particular way. 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.

DIFFERING VIEWPOINTS IN
THE WORKPLACE
When people of diverse backgrounds
work together, it can sometimes produce
a slower, but more effective, overall
process. Consider a workplace where
several people on a leadership team
have a dominant behavior style. They
are motivated by maximizing resources
and controlling their own destiny.
One member of the team, however, is
completely the opposite. This employee
is driven by experiencing the moment
and by having an insatiable desire to
help people. Behaviorally, the employee
seeks out stability.
From time to time, those on the team
with similar behaviors and motivators will
get behind an idea and believe that their
idea is the way to go. In these situations,
the less dominant member of the team
will lean into his or her steady behavioral
style and, on occasion, demonstratively
explain why the rest of the team might
be missing the forest for the trees. This
leader has been k nown to sit back ,
listen, let the others reach some sort of
consensus, and only then speak up and
voice an opinion. These leaders are
known to get everyone's attention and
slowly, but emphatically, explain why the
rest of the team might not be seeing the
whole picture.
It's this diversity of thought and behavior
that allows the leadership team to see
all sides of a situation before rushing
to take action. While it may take a little
longer, the result is an aligned team

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that moves in the same direction, to the
advantage of the organization.

DIFFERENT LIFE
EXPERIENCES LEAD TO
UNIQUE AND DIVERSE
THINKING
Someone who has only lived their life
in one city, one state or one country
simply won't have the same experiences
as someone who has lived abroad or
traveled extensively. Big ideas come from
unique perspectives. Safe thinking won't
change the world, but diverse thinking
can. Think about the impact of inventions
like the iPod or the smartphone. Great
ideas like those were generated from
teams willing to challenge the status
quo, try things untried and maybe even
fail, before wildly succeeding.

THE KEY TO
SUCCESSFULLY
IMPLEMENTING
DIVERSITY IS TO
HAVE A STAFF
WITH DIVERSE
BACKGROUNDS
AND DIVERSE
THOUGHT.

ACQUIRED DIVERSITY
Some diversity comes from traits people
are born with; other forms of diversity
are acquired through life experiences.
Experiential diversity comes from prior
work experience. Educational diversity
comes from things we've learned
throughout our lives from schools, parents
and friends. Ideological diversity comes

from viewpoints and belief systems we
develop over time as we decide what we
believe and how we choose to live our lives.

DIVERSITY OF THOUGHT IN
ACTION
They key to using diversity to an
organization's advantage is to use the
strong relationships, unique backgrounds
and diverse experiences of the team
members. You may not always agree with
each other, but the strong relationships
will help overcome the disagreements,
allowing the team to uncover the best
plans of action.
Frans Johansson, renowned public speaker
and author of the best-selling book "The
Medici Effect," says, "Innovation happens
at the intersection of ideas, concepts and
cultures." Taking two ideas that seemingly
are not related and finding a way to
join those ideas together is where true
innovation occurs.
I n 2 0 0 4 , Anthony Lising Antonio, a
professor at the Stanford Graduate School
of Education, said "When we hear dissent
from someone who is different from us,
it provokes more thought than when it
comes from someone who looks like us."

THE PROOF IS IN THE
NUMBERS
The McKinsey Study revealed some
interesting statistics about diversity. The
study concluded that gender diverse
teams are 15% more productive and
ethnically diverse teams are 35% more
productive. The study went on to claim
that for every 10% increase in ethnic
diversity on the senior team, there is a
0.8% increase in earnings.

CREATIVE DISAGREEMENTS
FOSTER GROWTH
While the concept of diversity may be
a relatively new concept, especially
the focus on diversity of thought, the
idea has been present in workplaces
for generations. The former CEO of
General Motors, Alfred Sloan, h a d

https://blog.ttisuccessinsights.com/using-diversity-of-thought-to-create-meaningful-change-frans-johanssons-medici-effect https://blog.ttisuccessinsights.com/using-diversity-of-thought-to-create-meaningful-change-frans-johanssons-medici-effect https://ed.stanford.edu/in-the-media/how-diversity-makes-us-smarter-cites-research-anthony-antonio-0 https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/big-data-the-next-frontier-for-innovation https://www.diversitywoman.com/diversity-of-thought/ https://www.diversitywoman.com/diversity-of-thought/

Training Industry Magazine - May/June 2019

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