Page 79 - Free the Idea Monkey

DIVERSITY: DON’T INNOVATE WITHOUT IT
A white guy, a white guy and a white guy walk into a bar ... did

I lose you yet?
Thought so. Nothing interesting was going to come from that joke.

Humor works when you have an unexpected, compelling outcome. So
does the innovation process, and it’s often
achieved by adding diversity—get-
ting the ideas from people of dif-
ferent ages, genders, races and
ethnic backgrounds — people
with varying perspectives,
personalities, experiences,
mind-sets, etc.

But when most think about the topic of diversity, it is invariably
in terms of “inclusion,” “multicultural acceptance.” That has tremen-
dous merit, but why the heck when you hear the word “diversity”
are you suddenly thinking like someone who has Equal Employment
Opportunity responsibilities? Sure, your company does, but you are
responsible for hard-core growth results: marketing and new prod-
uct development.

So start thinking about diversity that way. And if you do, you will
elevate the value of diversity far beyond the words in the employee
handbook. In fact, you are bound to conclude:

Diversity = Sustainable Competitive Advantage

Don’t take my word for it. Some of the best, and most innova-
tive, companies—Booz Allen, Deutsche Bank, DuPont, Pfizer and
Raytheon—believe diversity to be one of the invaluable ingredients
that leads to sustainable competitive advantage.

64 INSIDE OUT AND OUTSIDE IN-NOVATION