Diversity: The Winning Mix
November 22, 2023
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Diversity has become a competitive necessity in today's global work ecosystem, not just a moral imperative. Being slow to identify the influence it wields significantly limits the growth of any organization.
As a fully remote studio with a diverse team enriched with different lived experiences and perspectives, we continue to notice how robust insights are, how left-field our innovations quickly become, and how solutions devised for our partners benefit immensely. So, today, we explore how diversity as a strategy influences what we do for our partners and community of creatives.
We have realized that diversity on most teams often has two forms: Inherent and Acquired. Inherent Diversity refers to traits people are born with, i.e., gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. In contrast, Acquired Diversity refers to characteristics gained from experiences, whether working or living in another country to appreciate cultural nuances or extensively working across specific demographics to empathize and establish fluid connections.
Teams need both types of diversity to empower their perspective and sustain lifelong innovation. We have both covered and continue to strive to continue to build on it.
Global Readiness
Embracing diverse cultures and backgrounds uniquely positions organizations to understand global markets, which is a considerable advantage. According to a Forbes study, 85% of executives agree that a diverse and inclusive workforce encourages different perspectives and ideas. This global perspective is invaluable for teams aiming to expand their reach and resonate with various consumer bases worldwide. We see this consistently at a small studio when we work with clients of diverse interests; we always have extensive inherent and acquired diversity on the team to ease resonance.
Elevated Accessibility
Diversity ensures products work for varied audiences. When design teams reflect the demographics of real-world users, they consistently identify more potential issues earlier. Diverse perspectives allow for more efficient anticipation of the needs of communities. Our product design and digital development team members are often in open brainstorming sessions with various thinkers when building to extract extra layers of actionable insights that optimize the end products. It is always such a joy to witness the delight in the eyes of our partners when the final design solutions are presented.
Winning Formation
Prioritizing diversity leads to the formation of a team and working environment that embraces varied skill sets and backgrounds, attracting the most talented people from all over the world. It triggers a different level of value, engagement, and recognition. Research by McKinsey shows that ethnic/cultural diversity in teams correlates to a 33% likelihood of outperforming industry medians. The market seems to rewards organizations that embed diversity into their working culture. We are a small studio, and we have an eclectic and diverse team of creative talents. We can't deny that it is a winning formation that impacts our client relationships and the kind of community empowering projects we undertake.
The ease of working (in some instances) is what makes many team leaders or members want to work with individuals with similar backgrounds. Craving to only work with people who look like, talk like, or even think like them unfortunately breeds conformity and discourages innovative thinking. The comfort sort is often short-lived and a slippery slope.
Consistently expanding the pool of members on the team in the representation of different genders, nationalities, races, and sexual orientations remains critical to elevating any organization's intellectual prowess, especially in the increasingly interconnected business world where collaborations and transactions are borderless.
A more diverse team keeps biases in check and encourages the questioning of assumptions. Everyone needs to feel that sense of belonging on your team, allowing them to speak their minds freely and contribute without feeling like they are not being heard. When well encouraged, teams are incredibly more innovative and more efficient in attaining organizational goals and even proffering solutions for partners.
Keep Mixing things up for good!
