Diversity – Cognitive
Cognitive Diversity – what’s in it for me ?
You can tick all the boxes on Diversity and still recruit a team of people who are exactly like you. The most significantly Diverse team is one where each the members thinks, behaves and communicates differently. All the others pale into insignificance. See Details Below…
Dr D’Wayne Edwards, sports footwear designer and founder of Pensole Lewis College, shares insider stories of being one of just two black footwear designers when he started in 1989, and how he’s bringing a more diverse cohort into the industry today. ” we take students based upon the diversity of applicants and their stories: diversity of thought is true innovation “
We use profiling tools to help people understand themselves and their colleagues and customers See this section about Profiling
Cognitive Diversity
Thinking and behaving differently
It is possible to have a Team/Board which fulfils many of the aspects of diversity such as age, culture, race, religion, gender, sexuality and still have a board which is exactly like you. Cognitive Bias will ensure you recruit people like you as you will be better able to get on with them. These people will therefore attract customers like them and thus exclude most of the potential .
We all possess unique ways of perceiving the world, shaped by our distinct personalities, talents, and passions. By embracing cognitive diversity, we unlock the collective brilliance within each individual.
When we surround ourselves with diverse minds, we gain access to a kaleidoscope of viewpoints that challenge our assumptions and ignite our imagination. It’s in these moments of exploration that innovative ideas take flight and extraordinary solutions come to life. It’s not just about ticking off boxes on a checklist of diversity. It’s about fostering an environment that nurtures and celebrates our differences, inviting the full spectrum of human intellect to contribute and thrive. So, how diverse is your team’s thinking? Are you actively seeking out different perspectives? Are you creating a space where every voice feels valued and heard?
If all your team thinks the same as you, then the likelihood is you will target the 25% of your potential market. Your team might tick all the boxes regarding race, sex, age, sexuality, religion etc but if you all think the same way you are missing out on maybe 75% of sales.
It is a recognised fact that diverse teams get better results, but only if the team is properly diverse and the individuals properly belong. A board full of the male pale and stale and the token woman only deals with ‘women’s issues’ is not a diverse board. If the male, pale and stale think differently then they may be a more diverse board than if it’s made up of a people which are “technically” diverse. And the same goes for your teams. (of course the same applies to a Board of young women with the token old ,man)
How do you know whether your team is truly diverse?
A truly diverse team consists of introverts and extroverts , those who think big picture and those who need detail, those who are outgoing and those who are quiet, those who are logical and those who are emotional, fast decision makers and those who take time to decide. That’s cognitive diversity. To understand your team and build true diversity use colour profiling and team wheels. All the rest – age, sex, sexuality, race, education pale into insignificance.
Recruiting a team or board which is cognitively diverse is the best chance of success. How would you know? By using profiling tools to assess your current team and the kind of persons you would want to complete your team or board. We recommend using colour profiling assessments and team wheels. For more information look at this page
Three Colours Worldview
Three Colours Worldview
The Three Colours of Worldview can be visualized as three coloured lenses – formed of the basic beliefs and assumptions underlying behaviour and culture. People take in the world and make decisions on how to act through the filter of these lenses. For example, is being seen as honourable more important than being seen as right? Or is maintaining positional power more important than being shamed? To communicate effectively in a cross-cultural situation, you need to know what mix of lenses you have on in the way you see the world, and how to evaluate the lenses of the people with whom you are communicating. When we understand our own self-culture, we can begin to understand what drives others. These are what we look at first when we encounter a new situation, as they influence so many other cultural factors.
1. Innocence/Guilt
In an Innocence/Guilt focused culture, schools focus on deductive reasoning, cause and effect, good questions, and process. Issues are often seen as black and white. Written contracts are paramount. Communication is direct, and can be blunt.
2. Honour/Shame
Societies with a predominantly Honour/Shame worldview teach children to make honourable choices according to the situations they find themselves in. Communication, interpersonal interaction, and business dealings are very relationship-driven, with every interaction having an effect on the honour/shame status of the participants.
3. Power/Fear
Societies with a predominantly Power/Fear worldview raise children to assess where they fit into the pecking order of every situation they are in and behave accordingly. As they grow up, they learn how to align themselves with the right people to gain more power.
ason If you are well, both mentally and physically you will achieve more. Being in the right job in the right place will increase satisfaction. We run coaching, individual on-line training and group workshops in Wellness, to help you gain better understanding of the problem areas you may have in your life and begin to alleviate stress, tension and anxiety so you can live life happier, with more freedom and peace of mind, and achieve your career goals.