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We often hear compliments from our clients regarding The Center Consulting Group's team and culture. We really love working together and being together, but we are very different! Our team includes different ages, genders, educational levels, expressions of their faith, levels of experience, races, temperaments, ethnicities, and interests. Yet, there is no doubt we are far better because of our differences rather than in spite of them. While many people publicly embrace the desire for diversity in the workplace, deep down, we often gravitate to people who think and act like us. In addition, diversity is often viewed in very limited and often politically polarizing ways. While a leader’s life can feel much easier when there is a high level of sameness, the loss of creativity and innovation is very real.
An example of this is described by Dr. Katherine Phillips when she notes a study conducted in 2014 where two Harvard University researchers looked at the ethnic identity of the authors of 1.5 million scientific papers using Thomson Reuters’s Web of Science. In this study, they found that “papers written by diverse groups receive more citations and have higher impact factors than papers written by people from the same ethnic group.” According to Dr. Phillips, “Being around people who are different from us makes us more creative, diligent, and hard-working.”
So, why is it so hard to embrace the benefits of working with people who are not like us? One reason is life is easier when everyone thinks like us. It may not be better, but it requires less effort. For example, if one person on a team has a different opinion than the majority of others regarding a project or decision, it can cause frustration for everyone. Second, we often hold strong opinions that the way we think, work, or relate to others is the most “normal.” But so do most others, and that often results in irritation and sometimes conflict. Here are seven ways to work well with people who are not like you. READ MORE...
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