top of page

Innovation 20% higher, and ...

green arrow.png
dollar.png

innovation revenue higher

Innovation through diversity ... how?

Innovation revenue equals future growth, a key focus for both investors and founders.

So, how and why is diversity such an innovation driver?

 

A quick spin through some of the reasons how ...

​

​

Innovation drivers, diversity of gender, nationality, experience & career path

Rocio Lorenzo, BCG, found when leadership teams were diverse, innovation revenue was significantly higher. Diversity drivers were gender, nationality, industry experience, career path. With age and education as lesser influential drivers

Innovation Revenue

45%

above-average diverse leadership

26%

below-average diverse leadership

EBIT

+

9%

higher

above-average diverse leadership

Products innovated in last 3 yrs

Rocio Lorenzo, partner and MD, BCG

the Diversity Bonus

Scott Page, MIT, was approached by Google, NASA, Boeing, to translate what they were seeing from 'the diversity difference' (his earlier book), into The Diversity Bonus.

 

If I say 'blue' and we all say 'sky', we're generating the same, and only the same, ideas. If someone who lives by the sea joins us, and they say 'water', we start to generate new and more ideas.

1 + 1 = 3  

​

but only if

the two 1's are different

 

"diversity trumps ability"

"the more complex the problem,

the bigger the diversity bonus"

 

How? Cognitive diversity

 If 'what's next in what we think about' is different, together we generate more innovative ideas.

the Diversity Bonus

Group intelligence is highest with diverse teams

Anita Woolley (Carnegie Mellon) discovered the smartest teams in problem solving, were those with gender diverse teams (to a peak of 70% women). One key factor, emotional-intelligence, changed the whole teams behaviour and raised the teams problem solving.

​

the smartest teams 

were distinguished by three characteristics …

equal individual participation

and primarily …

 the number of women

social perceptiveness

(face-to-face and online)

Diversity of Thought

Diversity of thought is the underlying theme of all these concepts.

Diversity of thought

a team challenging of themselves and each other

idea generation,

avoid group think,

better decision making 

Mercer is convinced diverse teams are more likely to out perform, citing idea generation, avoiding group-think, reducing risk in portfolio construction, and how well a business is managed. The Mercer questionnaire for prospective asset managers, is a useful tool if you're looking to confirm or generate a culture open to diversity of thought.

Who speaks first at your meetings?
  
If you're the most senior person, your voice will set the tone.
​
Here's the challenge, speak last, encourage differing views, ask what are the obstacles to a plan.

Diversity of thought techniques, enable diverse thoughts to be heard. 

Want to learn more about what we do?
head.png

Rewire thinking for smarter investments

bottom of page