Thursday
Oct142010
Tip: Diversify your organization
Thursday, October 14, 2010 at 9:30AM
A practical strategy to enable the organization to think outside the box, to be innovative, is to diversify. To think outside the box is a requisite for innovation, as we saw in an earlier post.
Photo by Rennett Stowe Flickr CC
A diversified work force ensures that there is always someone looking the other way, always a lookout for the blindspot. Of course the flip-side is that to manage can be like herding cats.
To manage a diverse workforce Ken Blanchard recommends 6 strategies:
In nature, species with little genetic variations between individuals are more likely to go extinct. One of the reasons the Passenger Pigeon, whose flocks at one time darkened the sky for weeks, disappeared is said to be lack of genetic diversity.
Think of it like this, if within a species there are those who thrives in hot weather and others in the cold - if there is a climate change, the species will go on even if individuals struggle. If everyone prefers a cold climate and global warming sets in, the species goes extinct.
My conclusion is that the same goes for organizations. If everyone thinks, dresses and behaves in the same way, the company goes extinct when the clients change (which they are bound to do). To have a diversified group entails that some always feel uncomfortable and struggle, but that is the whole point, that is what you want! The challenge is to keep acceptable levels, it is a sure way of operating outside the comfort zone.
Do you see my logic? Have you ever felt the effects of diversity?
Photo by Rennett Stowe Flickr CCA diversified work force ensures that there is always someone looking the other way, always a lookout for the blindspot. Of course the flip-side is that to manage can be like herding cats.
Manage diversity
To manage a diverse workforce Ken Blanchard recommends 6 strategies:
- Set a clear, inclusive vision - to picture the future and values, creating a common view.
- Increase the quantity and quality of conversations between managers and direct reports - some cultures like to greet each others by touch, others are dead against it, the more diversity the more the need to ensure that all issues are out in the open.
- Walk the talk - integrity is everything, there is less and less patience with managers saying one thing and doing another.
- Turn the organizational hierarchy upside-down - to have management in a coaching role removing roadblocks, instead of being served, is already a recipe for success, and the practice is spreading. It is those in direct contact with the clients that needs to drive the organization.
- Consider the whole person - support is the new management role, don't ask people to blend in, what use is diversity if all act the same?
- Increase involvement - "crowd-source" within a diversified organization, this is the challenge and the opportunity.
Futureproof your organization
In nature, species with little genetic variations between individuals are more likely to go extinct. One of the reasons the Passenger Pigeon, whose flocks at one time darkened the sky for weeks, disappeared is said to be lack of genetic diversity.
Think of it like this, if within a species there are those who thrives in hot weather and others in the cold - if there is a climate change, the species will go on even if individuals struggle. If everyone prefers a cold climate and global warming sets in, the species goes extinct.
Keep outside the comfort zone
My conclusion is that the same goes for organizations. If everyone thinks, dresses and behaves in the same way, the company goes extinct when the clients change (which they are bound to do). To have a diversified group entails that some always feel uncomfortable and struggle, but that is the whole point, that is what you want! The challenge is to keep acceptable levels, it is a sure way of operating outside the comfort zone.
Do you see my logic? Have you ever felt the effects of diversity?
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