I appreciated Ed Brenegar's leadership links between people, ideas and structure at Leading Question. Think of the unity we'd have if we could find a way to genuinely link diverse thinking in these areas.... Just today I also read an exciting story in Science Daily with insights into
prejudice that seem to me to be more wired into some brains than in others.
By scanning subjects' brains while they were thinking about people either politically like or different from them, researchers saw different areas activated in the brain in each case. Through this study they discovered how perceptions about other racial groups differ from one's own within the human brain. Have you found that you think of some groups as “other” and so do not see their strengths and weaknesses in the same light as you see your own cultural group?
Check out their work to see more about prejudice and to see their tips to reduce prejudice by emphasizing how people are alike rather than focusing on differences. If you agree that genuine diversity and innovation would prosper today’s workplace… how would you suggest this study could help business leaders to achieve each of these through understanding and working with differences…?
Diversity has been a hot topic for a long time. Unfortunately, it has mostly been treated as a political issue rather than as an effectiveness issue.
I find this true in my work with clients. That therei circle of relationship that they value is quite small and narrow. They are looking for affirmation. The problem is that if everyone you are close to thinks like you, is in the same social context as you, then you have also limited yourself as to where you products and services will most likely be marketed.
Ron Burt at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business wrote a book called Structured Holes where he demonstrated that the person who has lots of relationships with people who don't know each other has a competitive advantage in the market place. By this, this person is a connector to other people, linking them together around shared values and common goals. This is some of what is discussed in Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point and in Everett Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations.
What this suggests to me, Ellen, is a way of looking at diversity that builds on my notion of impact. The tendency is to view people who are different as a threat. The challenge is one of personal character leading to the self-confidence that I can venture into any social context and have an impact. The is why the people side of business is not only the most challenging, but also carries the greatest potential for elevating a business beyond its current performance.
Thanks.
Posted by: Ed Brenegar | May 24, 2006 4:35 AM | Permalink to Comment