Diversity
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There is actual diversity — assembling teams of actually different people from different backgrounds, of different ages, genders, races, with varying cultural perspectives and who hold a diverse array of experience, expertise and opinion — and then there is diversity and inclusion, a second-order derivative of that, which is currently the subject of an in-vogue land-grab by a particular faction of the human resources military-industrial complex. The latter, despite its name, is curiously homogenous in outlook and output and disarmingly intolerant of contrary opinion, being founded as it is on a political disposition rather than, specifically, an abstract aspiration to make an organisation more effective.
It is also one of the sacred cows of the modern dialectic, so —other than to find mild amusement in its irony, we won’t have a lot to say about it — the JC picks his fair share of battles. That one is a bridge too far.
As for actual, first-order diversity, bring it on. This isn’t just a case of emulating Benetton commercials or marking out soft play areas and safe spaces. It is to recognise that a homogenous, familiar group with shared values and a single perspective — whatever its ethnic, gender or cultural bias — will be ill-equipped to deal with the problems and opportunities that complex systems — especially ones that are tightly-coupled — are certain to throw up.
Seeing all of us comprise, inhabit, and are immersed in complex systems all the time — merely complicated or simple systems are highly unusual over the run of human discourse[1] — this isn’t just airy-fairy management babble to put out on the corporate Twitter feed on Pride Day.
Yet our institutions — even those with a humble-bragging D&I directorate — are singularly resistant in practice to this idea. Legal departments are populated not just by lawyers, but by lawyers educated at Russell Group universities and trained at magic circle firms, at which they have had a singular, batshit crazy, view of the world beaten into them. There are no behavioural psychologists, no marketers, no complexity theorists among them. All of these disciplines have meaningful things to say about the management of contractual relations. There may be a chief operating officer, but she will be an accountant with an MBA. She will fret that there are too many men in management roles, as if a few more female Russell Group graduate, Allen & Overy alumni would make any difference.
Homogeneity risks:
- Group think
- Inability to produce alternative solutions: if everyone around the table came from McKinsey, they’ll tend to apply the same techniques and approach problems the same way
Cultural