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Driven by Difference
How Great Companies Fuel Innovation Through Diversity
By David Livermore AMACOM
Copyright © 2016 David Livermore
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8144-3654-7
CHAPTER 1
DIVERSITY IS.
Amri Johnson, a senior executive at Novartis, is often asked what he thinks about the state of diversity in today's corporate environment. Amri laughs. "What do I think about diversity? Diversity is. That's it. It's not going away. It's here to stay and it's going to become more of an issue everywhere. So what do we do about it? How do we optimize the opportunity? That's the question I'm interested in discussing."
Amri is right. These days, people are moving from everywhere to everywhere. First-generation immigrants are leaving Toronto for rural regions across Canada. Gay couples are moving into the suburbs. Chinese farmers are relocating to Australian suburbs, and Australian entrepreneurs are setting up agricultural businesses in China. Today, 36 percent of the U.S. workforce is made up of people of color, and by 2040, there will be no U.S. ethnic or racial majority. That reality is coming even more quickly to Canada. The shift is happening in more traditionally homogenous places like Denmark and Sweden as well. Similar trends exist most everywhere. And when you add the diversity of perspectives that come from one's gender, socioeconomic background, sexual orientation, profession, faith, and much more, indeed, "Diversity is." And there's no indication that the movement of people from everywhere to everywhere is going to lessen anytime soon.
If you wanted to visit the most culturally diverse country in the world, where would you go? India? The United States? Australia? The United Kingdom? Actually, you need to head to north central Africa, where Chad, the most culturally diverse country in the world, has 11.5 million people from more than 100 different ethnic groups. Erkan Gören from the University of Oldenberg in Germany studied the level of multicultural diversity in 180 countries. According to his data, the most culturally diverse countries in the world are Chad, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and a number of other African countries. The only Western country in the top 20 list is Canada. India is close behind, Mexico is just a bit further down, and the United States is in the middle of the list. The least diverse countries by Gören's measurements are Argentina, Haiti, Japan, and the Nordic countries. The top 10 most culturally diverse cities in the world are less surprising: Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Toronto, San Francisco, Sydney, Paris, Los Angeles, London, and New York.
The Diversity of Diversity
Diversity is sometimes used to broadly include any kind of difference, such as differences in personality, skills, working styles, tenure, and thinking. But if diversity includes everything, it ends up meaning nothing. On the other hand, diversity is more than just black versus white or German versus Chinese. Each of us is part of several different social groups, and there's incredible diversity within most countries.
Social categorization theory explains our human tendency to categorize people into "in-groups" and "out-groups." Subconsciously, we meet someone and within 10 seconds decide whether the person is "in" or "out." Think about how that influences the dynamics of a brainstorming session for a group tasked with developing an innovative solution! The way we determine who's in and who's out depends upon the context and the situation. For example, you might feel a loose sense of association with other people in your industry (e.g., teachers or engineers), with anyone who also works at your organization, or with someone who has the same disability as you. But for a group to truly have a "culture" of its own, it requires a shared pattern of beliefs, values, behaviors, customs, and attitudes. Dutch psychologist Geert Hofstede says that culture is the collective programming of the mind that sets one society apart from another. Therefore, in order to be a culture, there has to be a pattern of thinking and behavior that distinguishes it from other groups. Diversity is a way of describing any group that includes two or more cultures working and/or relating together.
That still leaves us with a very broad definition of diversity. Each of us is part of several different cultures, including our national origin, ethnicity, organizational and professional groups, gender, generation, sexual identity, socioeconomic status, religious beliefs ... and the list continues. National culture is the cultural difference that most strongly shapes most people's behavior, though that's not as true in a place as diverse as Chad or in a newly formed republic where geopolitical boundaries have little to do with one's identity.
What culture most strongly influences the way you think and behave? It depends upon what you're doing, where you are, and who else is there. For example, many Indians working in Silicon Valley report that their workplace habits and preferences resemble North American norms, but when they go home at night, they behave in more " Indian" ways. Or think of it like this: You might not identify very closely with your hometown until you're away from it and meet someone who is also from the same town. Then suddenly that part of your cultural identity becomes relevant.
Regional Perspectives on Diversity
A study conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit found that executives across different regions of the world look at diversity differently. Gender and age were seen as the top diversity issues challenging workplaces in the Asia-Pacific region, and ethnic and religious differences were seen as the top challenges in the Middle East and Europe. (See Table 1-1 for the top challenges identified by executives across five major regions of the world when talking about a diverse workforce.) This study examined what executives perceived as being the forms of diversity that were most challenging. Their perceptions may not be accurate. For example, even though Middle Eastern executives (mostly men!) didn't identify gender as a leading challenge, other studies suggest it should be one of their top concerns. But it's important to be aware of what executives from various regions perceive to be the most relevant challenges facing them.
What Kind of Diversity Matters Most
There are two kinds of diversity that most typically influence workplace behavior: visible diversity and underrepresented groups. The first one, visible diversity, refers to those differences that can immediately be observed when looking at someone. This includes differences that stem from ethnicity, gender, age, physical disabilities, and sometimes religion (such as a woman wearing a head covering). It's very difficult to disguise these cultural differences and as a result, they immediately influence the snap judgments made by others.
The second form of diversity that is most relevant for workplace contexts is any person from a culture that is underrepresented in the group, something Rosabeth Moss Kanter calls tokenism. Tokens are members of a subgroup who represent less than 15 percent of the whole group, and the disproportionate representation skews the ways they're perceived. Being the only Southerner on a team of Northerners, the only marketer on a team of engineers, or the only "foreigner" in a department highlights cultural differences that might otherwise be overlooked. Many individuals reflect both forms of diversity, such as being the only person of color on a team and thereby being both visibly different and one of the underrepresented team members. But underrepresentation is also a factor for people with cultural differences that aren't as visible, such as having a particular sexual orientation, ideology, socioeconomic status, or level of tenure that deviates from the dominant norm in a group. An underrepresented group could also be a majority group that has limited power and voice, such as what black South Africans experienced for many years. In addition, underrepresentation is context-specific. Men are underrepresented among HR professionals, for example, and women are underrepresented among engineers. Each organization and team needs to consider what groups are underrepresented in their contexts.
For the purposes of this book, diversity refers primarily to those who are visibly diverse and/or underrepresented. You can rightfully apply the principles of the book to other differences as well, such as the diversity of thought or the diversity of experiences or skills. But visible diversity and underrepresentation have the most potential to create conflict and opportunity for developing innovative solutions.
WHAT KIND OF DIVERSITY MATTERS MOST?
1. Visible Diversity
2. Underrepresentation (Tokenism)
What ultimately matters is not the source of diversity but the different values and perspectives that emerge from it. The more diversity you have within an organization, the more ideas there are for how things should be done. Many intercultural training programs focus on the superficial manifestations of cultural differences such as how to exchange business cards or appropriate gift giving. But the differences that most strongly influence innovation are the varied approaches for communicating, planning, and executing tasks. How do you align the values, expectations, and work styles of four generations, dozens of nationalities, and endless subcultures toward a universal vision and strategy for the organization? Answering that question is at the crux of our work on cultural intelligence because our interest has been to improve effectiveness working across cultural differences. And it's central to the purpose of this book — using different cultural perspectives to drive innovation. Cultural intelligence allows individuals to adapt their motivations, work ethic, and communication styles while learning from the different value perspectives to create better solutions.
Consider the diversity of generations in the workplace as an example of how competing values play out. This is the first time in history that four generations are working together, and a fifth one — Generation Z — is entering the mix. Many executives are working hard to attract high-performing young leaders. Upon recruiting them, they try to motivate Millennials with money, status, stability, and other things that may be entirely missing the values that drive them. As a whole, Millennials are less likely to value money for security and status and more likely to value it because it provides the resources they need to pursue their dreams. Many organizations miss this crucial point. Many executives got where they are by placing a high value on money and promotions, so they assume that's the way to do business with Millennials. When Millennials don't bite, the executives presume that means the younger workforce is entitled and unmotivated. But as Bill McLawhon, head of leadership development at Facebook, said to me:
As a 56-year-old guy, I went through a period where I looked at these young kids and thought, "Wait until you get your butt kicked out in the real world." But I quickly realized this is the real world. And they' re making it their own. This is the future of work. It doesn't look much like the world of work where I started. But I'm completely awed by the high-performing individuals I get to coach every day, most of whom are young enough to be my kids.
Hiring a diversity of age groups is a start. But if you don't utilize the diverse perspectives of different age groups and instead try to mold them into all of your values, not only will you lose them but you will also lose their insights on what connects with consumers who share values with them.
Most of the research on the value differences across generations is biased toward Millennials from North America; however, generational differences are found in other parts of the world as well. The Asia-Pacific region is where generational differences have created some of the most conflict in the workplace because the area has a long history of centralized control in which flexible work structures and accommodating individualized preferences goes against the grain. Most Millennials in places like India, Taiwan, and Malaysia still have a strong measure of collectivism and filial piety — a loyalty to one's in-group and a sense of responsibility to defer to one's father or elders. But that orientation is tempered by the values these young people have for self-expression and flexibility. Whenever you have multiple layers of cultural differences in one individual — such as a Millennial from Japan working in a U.S. company and reporting to an American baby boomer, there's all the more potential for value collisions.
Whether diversity is visible or not, what matters most are the vastly different values and perspectives that emerge from cultural differences. Culturally intelligent innovation begins with reflecting on and mapping the value differences that exist across your team. But before we can jump into describing effective ways to leverage those differences, we need to discuss some of the insufficient attempts that have permeated this discussion over the last 20 years.
Diversity Fatigue
The other day I was working out at the gym and I overheard a guy say to his buddy, "So tomorrow I have to go to a diversity training workshop." "Oh God!" the other guy said. "That's right up there with getting a root canal!" to which his friend responded, "I don't mind diverse people as long as they agree with me!"
Many employees and executives have "diversity fatigue" — they've done the diversity thing and they're ready to move on. There's a lot of great work that has been done by diversity and inclusion professionals around the world, but something has to change in how we address this vital area of concern.
Shame on You!
Employees sometimes walk away from diversity programs having heard one more shaming diatribe about racism or sexism, which they then shrug off as they struggle to see the relevance to their daily routines. Others leave diversity programs overly paranoid of saying something offensive, so instead of having real conversations with diverse colleagues, they walk on eggshells lest they be guilty of the kind of discriminatory behavior they heard described in their recent workshop. Shame and an emphasis upon punitive measures for not embracing diversity are too prevalent in many conversations about this topic. What's more, they rarely bring about lasting change.
One time, I was speaking to a group of U.S. real estate agents. Afterward, an older Caucasian woman walked up to me and asked, with a hushed voice, "Are you familiar with this group at the local university that brings together nonwhite, um, no, I mean, minority ... No, that's not right either. I meant to say foreigners. Oh! Never mind! I don't know how I'm supposed to talk anymore...." I assured her, "It's okay. I know what you're trying to say."
People are often scared to even enter the conversation about different cultures for fear they'll say something racist. Mind you, this woman had just listened to one of the other speakers at the real estate conference berate the agents for their consistent use of offensive, discriminatory language, including walk-in-closets ("How do you think that makes a disabled person feel?" he asked.) and master bedrooms ("Do you know how that sounds if your ancestors were slaves?"). Using appropriate language is a start, but it's far from what is really needed to build culturally intelligent relationships. We have to find ways to address the difficult, sensitive issues surrounding cultural differences without becoming paralyzed and failing to engage in the conversation.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Driven by Difference by David Livermore. Copyright © 2016 David Livermore. Excerpted by permission of AMACOM.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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