There are two kinds of diversity that most typically influence workplace behavior: visible diversity and underrepresented groups. The first one, visible diversity, refers to those differences that can immediately be observed when looking at someone. This includes differences that stem from ethnicity, gender, age, physical disabilities, and sometimes religion (such as a woman wearing a head covering). It’s very difficult to disguise these cultural differences, and as a result, they immediately influence the snap judgments made by others.
The second form of diversity that is most relevant for workplace contexts is any person from a culture that is underrepresented in the group, something Rosabeth Moss Kanter calls “tokenism.” Tokens are members of a subgroup who represent less than 15 percent of the whole group, and the disproportionate representation skews the ways they’re perceived. Being the only Southerner on a team of Northerners, the only marketer on a team of engineers, or the only “foreigner” in a department highlights cultural differences that otherwise might be overlooked. Many individuals reflect both forms of diversity, such as being the only person of color on a team and thereby finding yourself to be both visibly different and one of the underrepresented team members. But underrepresentation is also a factor for people with cultural differences that aren’t as visible, such as having a particular sexual orientation, ideology, socioeconomic status, or level of tenure that deviates from the dominant norm in a group. An underrepresented group also could be a majority group that has limited power and voice, such as what black South Africans experienced for many years. In addition, underrepresentation is context-specific. Men are underrepresented among HR professionals, for example, and women are underrepresented among engineers. Each organization and team needs to consider what groups are underrepresented in their contexts.
What ultimately matters is not the source of diversity but the different values and perspectives that emerge from it. The more diversity you have within an organization, the more ideas there are for how things should be done. Many intercultural training programs focus on the superficial manifestations of cultural differences such as how to exchange business cards or appropriate gift giving. But the differences that most strongly influence innovation are the varied approaches for communicating, planning, and executing tasks. How do you align the values, expectations, and work styles of four generations, dozens of nationalities, and endless subcultures toward a universal vision and strategy for the organization? Answering that question is at the crux of my work on cultural intelligence because my interest has been to improve effectiveness working across cultural differences. Cultural intelligence allows individuals to adapt their motivations, work ethic, and communication styles while learning from the different value perspectives to create better solutions.
Consider the diversity of generations in the workplace as an example of how competing values play out. This is the first time in history that four generations are working together, and a fifth one—Generation Z—is entering the mix. Many executives are working hard to attract high-performing young leaders. Upon recruiting them, they try to motivate Millennials with money, status, stability, and other things that may be entirely missing the values that drive them. As a whole, Millennials are less likely to value money for security and status and more likely to value it because it provides the resources they need to pursue their dreams. Many organizations miss this crucial point. Many executives got where they are from placing a high value on money and promotions, so they assume that’s the way to do business with Millennials. When Millennials don’t bite, the executives presume that means the younger workforce is entitled and unmotivated. But as Bill McLawhon, head of leadership development at Facebook, said to me:
“As a 56-year-old guy, I went through a period where I looked at these young kids and thought, ‘Wait until you get your butt kicked out in the real world.’ But I quickly realized this is the real world. And they’re making it their own. This is the future of work. It doesn’t look much like the world of work where I started. But I’m completely awed by the high-performing individuals I get to coach every day, most of whom are young enough to be my kids.”
Hiring a diversity of age groups is a start. But if you don’t utilize the diverse perspectives of different age groups and instead try to mold them into all of your values, not only will you lose them but you also will lose their insights on what connects with consumers who share values with them.
Most of the research on the value differences across generations is biased toward Millennials from North America; however, generational differences are found in other parts of the world, as well. The Asia-Pacific region is where generational differences have created some of the most conflict in the workplace because the area has a long history of centralized control in which flexible work structures and accommodating individualized preferences go against the grain. Most Millennials in places such as India, Taiwan, and Malaysia still have a strong measure of collectivism and filial piety—a loyalty to one’s in-group and a sense of responsibility to defer to one’s father or elders. But that orientation is tempered by the values these young people have for self-expression and flexibility. Whenever you have multiple layers of cultural differences in one individual—such as a Millennial from Japan working in a U.S. company and reporting to an American Baby Boomer, there’s all the more potential for value collisions.
Whether diversity is visible or not, what matters most are the vastly different values and perspectives that emerge from cultural differences. Culturally intelligent innovation begins with reflecting on and mapping the value differences that exist across your team.
Adapted from “Driven By Difference: How Great Companies Fuel Innovation Through Diversity” by David Livermore (AMACOM; hardcover; February 2016). For more information, visit http://davidlivermore.com/blog/books/driven-by-difference-book
David Livermore, Ph.D., has written 10 books on global leadership and cultural intelligence including “Leading with Cultural Intelligence” and his newest release, “Driven by Difference,” which further addresses the practical ways to leverage diversity to fuel innovation. Livermore is president of the Cultural Intelligence Center in East Lansing, MI, a visiting scholar at Nanyang Business School in Singapore, and has worked with leaders in more than 100 countries.
