16/1/2017 Thinkingdifferently:thebenefitsofcognitivediversity

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Thinking differently: the benefits of cognitive diversity

When we think about diversity, it is identity or demographic differences that immediately spring to
mind factors such as race, age, gender, ethnicity or religion. Much less obvious or appreciated is
cognitive diversity the differences in the way that people think.
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In any organisation, cognitive diversity matters because it is the only way to guard against group-
think. As Margaret Heffernan put it in her book Willful Blindness: Why We Ignore the Obvious at Our
Peril, Diversity isnt a form of political correctness, but an insurance policy against internally
generated blindness that leaves institutions exposed and out of touch.

Author and management thinker, Steve Denning, has suggested that cognitive diversity can comprise
four distinct dimensions.

1. Diverse perspectives: people have different ways of representing situations and problems. They
see the set of possibilities confronting them differently.

2. Diverse interpretations: people put things into different categories and classifications.

3. Diverse heuristics: People have different ways of generating solutions to problems. Some people
like to talk through their thinking about problems; others prefer to write the solutions first and then
talk.

4. Diverse predictive models: Some people analyse a situation. Others may look for the story that lies
behind it.

When these differences are harnessed in a positive way, the benefits to an organisation can be
marked. Writing in Scientific American last year, Professor Katherine W. Phillips, senior vice dean at
Columbia Business School said: [Cognitive] diversity enhances creativity. It encourages the search
for novel information and perspectives, leading to better decision making and problem solving.
Diversity can improve the bottom line of companies and lead to unfettered discoveries and
breakthrough innovations.

In their 2013 paper for Deloitte University Press, Diversitys new frontier: Diversity of thought and the
future of the workforce, Anesa Diaz-Uda, Carmen Medina & Beth Schill explained how diversity of
thought can help organisations make better decisions and complete tasks more successfully, because
it triggers more careful and creative information processing than typically occurs in homogeneous
groups.

Three key benefits of cognitive diversity were identified in the paper:

1. It helps guard against groupthink and expert overconfidence.

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2. It helps increase the scale of new insights.

3. It helps organisations identify employees who can best tackle their most pressing problems.

But thats not always the case. Theres also evidence that higher levels of cognitive diversity can
sometimes result in less communication among executives, less effective decision-making and less
positive organisational outcomes. For example, disagreement over strongly-held preferences and
beliefs can result in head-butting rather than resolution, leading executives to quietly address
strategic issues behind the scenes rather than risk conflict with colleagues. In fact, one study, by C. C.
Miller, L. M. Burke and W. H. Glick, found a negative correlation between cognitive diversity and
effective executive decision-making.

The key to cognitive diversity, then, is being able to harness its positive effects. And that demands
individuals who have the open mindedness and curiosity to embrace other points of view and be
prepared to share of knowledge. In a Board context, that means having the right people using the
right processes and critically an effective Board Chair with the ability to balance the group
dynamics without getting bogged down in time-consuming argument.

As the Deloitte University Press paper highlights, cognitive diversity is not yet a priority in most
organisations. To address this issue, the papers authors suggest that organisations focus on three
areas:

Three steps for better cognitive diversity

1. Recruit differently: It is key that the job description as well as the interview process contain the
competencies and questions designed to help identify candidates who will bring fresh insight, new
perspectives and, most importantly, challenge old thinking.

2. Manage differently: Rather than stifling debate and rejecting new ideas because they threaten the
status quo, businesses must focus on creating an inclusive learning culture where people feel
comfortable being themselves, contributing ideas and learning from each other.

3. Promote differently: Organisations should actively promote different thinking styles within the
business and factor this into career development. They should also support and encourage people
who think out of the box and reward their contribution to innovation and problem-solving.

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According to Warren Partners Tim Kemp, one of the biggest contributions recruiters can make is
coaxing a client out of their comfort zone in order to ensure that they dont keep recruiting the same
type of people that they already employ, from a homogenous candidate pool. That means looking
for individuals who are innovators rather than adaptors if a step change in performance is required,
Tim says.

Innovators tend to reject the common perceptions of problems and redefine them, they are less-
interested in quick-fixes, and prefer to focus on long-term solutions. Theyre not afraid to offer
multiple solutions to problems that often require fundamental changes to the status quo.

Adaptors tend to accept problems as defined, seek early and easily-implemented solutions and stick
to rules and consensus. In other words, theyre yes men.

Something else for recruiters to look out for is what Tim calls individual agility.

These are people who display a high level of curiosity, bring a fresh perspective to situations and can
explain their thinking to others. They are also open minded, self-aware and keen to learn from others.
They are comfortable with complexity and ambiguity, use the appropriate analytical lenses to view
issues and make sound and timely decisions balancing analysis, judgement and intuition.

Having people like that in an organisation will go a long way to building real cognitive diversity. But
even then, you still need effective leadership to harness its benefits.

Posted by Tim Kemp on 02 June 2015

Tim Kemp

TIMS EXPERTISE

SECTOR

Business Services Energy, Mining & Retail Industrial Retail, Consumer & Leisure

Technology, Media & Telecoms Transport & Infrastructure

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