Smart business people strive to promote diversity in their organizations. And it’s not just the usual factors of race, gender, etc. that matter. You should also endeavor to have diversity of thought among your staff, especially the management team.
When everyone approaches the business from the same mindset, it ends up being an operational liability. Because when you’re tackling a problem or planning for the future, you need a range of methods and ideas to have the best chance of finding the path to the greatest success.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of homogenous groupthink. People tend to want to associate with others like themselves, with similar experiences and world views. Those who are alike naturally then join into endeavors together. As the company grows, they invite others like themselves into the team.
Before long, you’ve got an organization in which everyone more or less thinks the same way.
Another reason diversity of thought can be a challenge is that a range of opinions means more conflict will occur, and in a business setting many managers assume conflict is always a bad thing. It isn’t. A better way of looking at an issue is to value those with different opinions than our own. And this should extend to the management team and employee pool. Respectful debate bonds your team and will produce a better solution.
An owner/manager should never surround themselves with yes-women and yes-men. Good managers want people on their team who don’t reflexively agree with them. They seek out differing opinions and novel ideas. They allow the team to hash out its different approaches and from them select the one that’s right for the entire organization. One concept may prevail or another will – or a fusion of many.
When you have diversity of thought, it also provides you with the ability to see how someone else perceives an issue. By having that understanding, you can accelerate the path to identifying a solution.
This is a valuable tool for understanding a customer’s situation. Having people who see things from different sides can help head off client dissatisfaction, and pre-emptively avoid a problem in a quick and satisfying manner.
Prudent business owners want to know when clients have a complaint with their product or service. That way they can address emerging issues before they harm the reputation of the entire company. It’s like the old business adage: if a customer is happy, they’ll tell one person. If they’re unhappy, they’ll tell 10 people.
At Sponsel CPA Group, one of our best methods for encountering diversity of thought is by serving on the boards of civic or nonprofit organizations. The best of these boards have people from a broad spectrum of backgrounds who can come to a solution that’s satisfactory to everyone. Listen to these people, especially when you’re looking for recommendations on who to add to your own team.
By being respectful of others’ opinions and encouraging people to openly disagree and share other points of view and ideas, you will emerge with a diverse team that’s stronger than its dissimilar pieces and your success will follow.
If you need advice on how to promote though diversity in your organization, please call Nick Hopkins in our Tax Services department at (317) 608-6695 or email [email protected].