“A diverse mix of voices leads to better discussions, decisions, and outcomes for everyone.” – Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google

Bringing a diversified team of people together seldom happens naturally. Differences can be challenging, and we naturally tend to gravitate towards those most similar to ourselves. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the advantages of diversity and make this a focus in building a successful team.

Making wealth is not just about diversifying your investment; diversifying your team can help grow and protect your business.

The ability to achieve overall agility is attained with a value-adding business model and a diverse team. As Steve Jobs said, it doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.

The more voices you can have, who are determined to work together for success, the better the discussions and decisions. Working together tends to challenge the brain to explore new ways of thinking and discard rigidity, resulting in smarter teams. However, this cannot be achieved through overtly diverse qualities alone; diverse backgrounds can still manifest similar thinking. 

Diversity of thought is what is imperative.  

Let’s look at three of the ways this can manifest.

  • 1. Increased focus on facts:

The more diverse ideas and opinions are pooled, the more thoroughly these need to be examined and the more objectivity is required. This improves group thinking and helps to maintain accuracy and authenticity to your brand message.

  • 2. Better processing of facts:

In considering different perspectives, the way a group digests or processes information is also naturally altered, increasing the likelihood of making the best decisions.

  • 3. Increased innovation:

Furthermore, the combination of different ideas enables inspiration to be drawn from seemingly unrelated places, encouraging new thinking and the adaptability required for more unlikely and innovative ideas to present, which aligns with what Steve Jobs experienced at Apple.

These combined factors show that diversity boosts the joint intellectual potential of a company and is a good business decision to take in setting it up to be more successful, no matter what the goals are. 

The same applies in all areas of life. To grow and succeed in any sphere, an awareness of the strength of diversity as a starting point in bringing ideas together and redefining them can only be beneficial.