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Summary:
- Series of anecdotes highlighting my personal
journey in understanding the importance and
power of diversity
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Diversity is critical to success in project
management, enabling creativity and precluding
group think
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Diversity in race and gender is a first step,
but real power derives from assembling and leveraging
disparate points of view
Other
sources of diversity:
- Geographic background
- Age
- Corporate Culture
Conclusion: Project Orion
– could diversity of viewpoint prevented
a corporate disaster?
Abstract:
Most project managers view diversity as a program
managed by the HR department, a moral imperative
designed to correct decades of historical discrimination
in race and gender, and which is manifest as a
constraint in the selection of team members. At
best, it is a minor annoyance.
But that misses both the point and the power.
Diversity is really a powerful, and often untapped,
source of creativity that inhibits group think,
fosters innovation, and maximizes the chance of
success.
A good first step is racial and gender diversity.
But the savvy project manager will look beyond
the obvious differences to build project teams
with a wide array of experience and perspectives.
They will value differences in age, and geographic
and industrial background; and intentionally recruit
team members with unique styles and personality
profiles.
Diversity is not necessarily easy. But it is
a powerful project management tool that is not
just competitively essential; it could mean the
difference between success and failure.
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