What if your team's differences were it's greatest strength?

There's a belief held by many that the 9/11 Twin Towers wasn't seen because of a lack of diversity in the CIA. The CIA argued that it needed the best people to protect the country. So they recruited people who looked and thought like themselves.

Until the 9/11 tragedy highlighted a problem.

When we don't understand cultural differences we miss nuances in the intelligence gathered. So they started to recruit more diverse backgrounds to cover their blindspots. People who understood the context the intelligence came from.

Until Trump put an end to DEI initiatives at least.

Diversity is a strength because it can help us get past our own biases. Without it we are vulnerable to believing we're right. And pride always comes before our fall.

The old story of the blind men who each feel a different part of the elephant shows us why we need diversity.

If we only took one, or even two, we'd never know what an elephant was like. Together we can get a much more accurate perspective.

In today's podcast episode Clark Ray, Tony Walmsley and I discussed how cognitive diversity can be a team's strength.