Why is Diversity Good?

The mantra of diversity is preached everywhere almost constantly. It has become such a common refrain that it has kind of sunk into the background noise for me. However, I realized the other day that despite the constant chant of diversity being so good and important I don't really ever hear WHY. Additionally, I do not often hear an explanation for what kind of diversity is being encouraged. There are lots of different kinds of diversity (diversity of diversity!). Are ALL kinds good and important?

First, I want to explore what kinds of diversity there are. This list is probably not exhaustive, but does give a good selection:

• Gender
• Age
• Race
• Sexual orientation
• Education - level
• Education - expertise
• Education - location
• Culture
• Political
• Theological
• Philosophical
• Ethical
• Career

To skip around a little, the idea of having diversity is most commonly touted as being a positive thing because it brings in diverse perspectives. That means that ideas are approached from a number of angles and better and more creative solutions are more likely. Also, if a company is making women's shoes having a few women in the marketing department would be helpful so that a they can share their customer's perspective more closely. In that regard I think that diversity certainly is good, helpful, and really quite critical.

There are some kinds of diversity that are very much not helpful for basically anyone. For example, I really really really do not want diversity of education levels in the team of surgeons doing my heart transplant. I want them all to be super well educated and with lots of years of experience. For a surgical team, competency rules the day. I don't care how inspiring Jimmy's story of getting his GED was I do not want him anywhere near me with a scalpel.

However, when considering what kinds of diversity are important each organization's mission and goals need to be taken into account. The argument for diversity is that it increases the quality of the groups work as a whole. That is only true if it actually does this.

All else being equal, having a diverse group of people working on a project probably is genuinely better. However, rarely is it "all else being equal". When you are going to hire people for that lady's shoe company marketing team you want the best. You want the most capable marketers you can find and afford. If you pick for diversity, in the real world, that means you are most likely not choosing for skills. As I said before, having some women on the team is going to be a benefit. However, do you need to be sure to have racial diversity? Do you need some LGBTQ representation? Do you need old people? Do you need men?

The answer to all those questions is most likely no. While it may be nice, and make people feel good, other than having a female (read target customer) perspective it really doesn't matter.

Let's flip it around. The men's shoe company marketing department is hiring. Upon interviewing the 100 candidates for the five positions the top five picks are all amazingly qualified and extremely talented marketers... and all women. Is that a problem? I'd say not at all. They are really good at their jobs so they will know to find any perspective they do not personally have (which doesn't require one of them being a man).

How, why does that not matter? How could five women figure out how to enticingly market men's shoes to men?

Well, it comes down to a really tough concept... all of those groups I listed above are not monolithic blocks. Not all men are the same. So if you replaced one of those super marketer ladies with an ok at marketing guy he only has a single perspective on being a man. He of course would share it, but even his manly perspective would be limited.

What really matters is this: diversity of empathy. Who can you empathize with? Lack of diversity and empathy is the problem. How do you know you have a lock of empathy? If you view all the people with a certain characteristic as all being the same.

In conclusion, surface level diversity is more or less pointless. Diversity of mind is critical.