Diversity is not equal participation

Diversity and inclusion are the new buzz words currently in the HR business in Australia and rightly so. Diversity is the key to success in business as it is in life. Without diversity, life would not have sustained on this planet as it is the diversity of life that made it overcome all deadly obstacles in history. Some forms of life have been able to thrive because they had some different features from mainstream forms of life which disappeared in face of an unexpected adverse event. After the sudden extinction of dinosaurs which used to be the mainstream form of life for example, life has prevailed thanks to small mammals which have evolved into what we are are now.

However many policy-makers, HR and business managers seem to confuse diversity with equal participation. They consider that 50% of women in managerial role and more representations of ethnic minorities in the workforce would by itself bring more diversity of thought in the workplace. This is a good objective we must all aim for but one that will not by itself bring more diversity, just equal and fairer participation.

Diversity is something different. Businesses can gain from diversity as diversity of thought will help find solutions to never before seen problems. As Juliet Bourke of Deloitte rightly said it, “two heads are better than one” and she cited Professor Scott Page of Michigan University to state that when we attempt to solve problems with people similar to us who have an overlap view of the world, we take the risk of having an average error rate of 30% of making a mistake.

However, taking more women or ethnic minorities is not necessarily going to reduce this error rate if they come from similar areas or industries, have grown up with the same language, have been to the same schools etc. Real diversity comes from people who come from different walks of life, who encountered different sets of problems and had to solve them in a creative way. These people have a different native language, come from different cultures, social classes, went to different schools, even sometimes worked in different industries or changed industries.

The importance of language and multilingualism is often overlooked in English-speaking countries and especially in Australia as most people in business consider that now most of the world professionals use English and that knowing another language is just a distraction, merely showing some linguistic abilities. It is not. Studies show that bilinguals have trained their brain to be more able to solve problems. Moreover, scientists have demonstrated that “the bilingual experience improves the brain’s so-called executive function” – a command system that directs the attention processes that we use for planning, solving problems and performing various other mentally demanding tasks”. Bilinguals also have a “heightened ability to monitor the environment”, all qualities that make the stuff of great leaders.

If Australian businesses want to go the way of diversity and inclusion, they should not therefore limit themselves at appointing women and ethnic minorities to top positions. They should look at people with a different native language, who have been to different schools and had different life experiences as these are the people who will be able to solve tomorrow’s unexpected problems.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/the-benefits-of-bilingualism.html

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