{"id":10255,"date":"2021-12-06T13:31:33","date_gmt":"2021-12-06T12:31:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/innovationlab.net\/?p=10255"},"modified":"2021-12-06T13:31:33","modified_gmt":"2021-12-06T12:31:33","slug":"diversity-and-innovation-for-a-better-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/innovationlab.net\/blog\/diversity-and-innovation-for-a-better-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Diversity and innovation for a better world"},"content":{"rendered":"

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At one time that phrase warned companies of the dangers of staying in the same place for too long. A reminder that to avoid stagnation – they had to innovate. Fast forward to today and diversity of your people is recognised as a key driver for innovation, so it might be time to take a closer look at your team.<\/p>\n

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In the 1950\u2019s Marcel Bich<\/a> created the original Bic pen<\/a> disrupting inkwell pens. Instead of incrementally innovating the pens, Bic diversified and became the market leader for disposable products. Environmentally damaging as it may appear to us today Bic provides a great example of a former meaning of diversify or die.<\/p>\n

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Today diversity is about the power of diverse humans. Humans who come in all shapes, sizes, colours, and mindsets. In our everyday lives we can have a range of humans we turn to for different aspects of our lives. For example, we all know who\u2019s good at listening, who\u2019s good at building IKEA furniture, and who\u2019s great for when we want to celebrate something in a really big way. Even our families are made up of diversely different human personalities.<\/p>\n

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Now let\u2019s take the work environment. Just Google \u2018types of people you want on your team\u2019, and the pattern you\u2019ll soon notice is that combinations of different personalities make up the best teams, Starters to Finishers, and everything in between. Nothing new really, everyone from the Harvard Business Review<\/a> to Forbes<\/a> to random blogposts all shout the same message \u2013 diverse teams get the best results, and workplace diversity drives innovation. Both Frans Johnasson\u2019s Great Place to Work<\/a> and Deloitte<\/a> describe diverse and inclusive teams as the \u2018engines of innovation\u2019.<\/p>\n

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That got me thinking. If diversity is vital to innovation are companies doing themselves a disservice by looking for a cultural fit?<\/p>\n

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Cultural fit implies:<\/p>\n