Leveraging the new streams of talent around the world, and tapping into the widest possible talent pool … Demographic shifts have created a new imperative and present organizations, schools, administrations with new opportunities. Today a range of Fortune 500 companies – Johnson & Johnson, Aon, Citi and American Express, GE just to name a few – have chief diversity officers, in charge of managing diversity and promoting inclusion on a broad level.
On the other side, diversity is closely linked to innovation. The EU Innovation & Diversity survey findings show that diversity in workforce can break the vicious cycle of unilateral thinking and spark creativity and empower innovation processes. Thinking alike no matter how smart will most likely bring the same solutions over and over. New and better solutions require different thinking. Research showed that an increasing number of companies recognize this. Whole-brain thinking is a proven way of dealing with diversity.
Angela Behrendt is a consultant, researcher, professor and advocate for creativity and innovation.