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Change doesn’t work: Why cognitive diversity is so important in the workplace
Liz Truss spent 44 days in power, the shortest tenure of a UK prime minister since records began. She brought in the most diverse cabinet ever yet still couldn’t outlast the wilting leaves of a lettuce, leading to the headline: “Iceberg sinks Truss”.
Then in stepped Rishi Sunak, the first British Asian prime minister. He still maintained a diverse cabinet, yet in the leadership race, he lost against a woman who lost against a lettuce.
Why do I bring this up? I hear you ask.
Well, while it’s a positive step forward to see so much more diversity in the highest roles in government, I can’t help thinking they’re making the same ridiculous mistakes.
The government is so out of touch with the public that whoever gets into Downing Street and surrounds the prime minister appears to be in one massive echo chamber of stupidity. One with little or no self-awareness and feels they can blag their way out of any situation with no comeback. Essentially they’re making the same mistakes over and over again.
Einstein famously said, “We can’t solve problems by using the same thinking we used when we created them.”
At this juncture, it might also be useful to point out that 61% of Sunak’s cabinet was privately educated (only slightly lower than 68% in Truss’s cabinet). Indeed, the last six prime ministers went to Oxford University - adding their names to the thirty before them.
Diversity isn’t just about age, gender, and ethnicity, i.e., something we see; it’s also how we think and behave.
I’ve been working with many companies over the last few years exploring why cognitive workplace diversity is essential in building a flexible, adaptive, change-focused environment that positively impacts the ongoing evolution of an organisation/culture.
Here’s what I’ve learned.
Recruitment-al
Many organisations have a culture and workforce that looks and behaves the same way.
Maybe it’s in the way they recruit, creating systems and procedures that are exclusive rather than inclusive. So, for instance, recruiting based on the school you attended or whether you have a degree. Perhaps someone moves to a new position/organisation and slowly brings in their old, familiar team.
And while there isn’t anything necessarily wrong with this approach, it does mean that we could be missing real opportunities to develop thinking, communication styles, divergent teamwork, up-skilling, and a chance to look at the bigger picture in a more rounded and holistic way.
According to an article published in Forbes magazine, there are three excellent reasons to embrace cognitive diversity and make it a part of everyday working life:
- Problems are solved faster
- Processes become more efficient
- The workforce can adapt more easily to change
So not only does cognitive diversity bring people together in a collaborative sense, it also gives a company a competitive edge in terms of productivity.
Are you in an echo chamber?
To find out if you might be in your own echo chamber, have a go at the exercise below.
- Take 5 mins to think about 3-5 people you would go to outside your family unit for advice, then write their names down on a piece of paper.
- Next to their names, note their age, sex, gender, ethnicity, religion, schooling level, and any disability.
Like many other people who’ve done this exercise before, you may find you tend to surround yourself with people who look, think and behave just like you do. It’s an evolutionary safety thing we developed whilst we were still in caves. Or, to give it its correct technical term, affinity bias.
We just like to be with people we perceive as less threatening because they look and sound familiar and behave in ways that make us feel secure. And more importantly, don’t question us.
Again, whilst there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with this, it can lead to environments where our thoughts, ideas, systems, and behaviours are reinforced.
This doesn’t help us look at things differently or with a fresh perspective. We’re never challenged as to why we’re doing, saying or behaving in a particular way, either.
In his book Rebel Ideas, Matthew Syed says, “When you’re surrounded by similar people, you are not just likely to share each other’s blind spots, but reinforce them. This is sometimes called ‘mirroring’.”
3 great ways to open your inner sanctum and begin to broaden your list of acquaintances
- Strike up a conversation with an employee you are familiar with but don’t really know
- Ask someone you wouldn’t usually go to straight away about a piece of work/to get some feedback/get their perspective on a particular challenge.
- Set up a rebel boardroom – think of one friend/colleague and family member you wouldn’t usually go to for advice and pick their brains.
Change can work
If, as individuals and organisations, we can create a culture of inclusion for people with different ways of thinking, we can start to build workplaces that work in a positive way.
By being adaptive, learning-centric and utilising different skill sets to help educate one another, we can look at things from many angles to give the freshest, most complete view. In doing so, the environment in which it is deployed thrives.
Unlike a one-sided, socially blind, back-slapping exercise in self-promotion, which, as we know, can’t even outlast lettuce!
If you would us to come in and support your workplace/organisation with cognitive diversity, get in touch with Doug - he’ll more than happy to help.
