How Diversity Drives Creativity and Innovation

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Intelligent Enterprise Institute

7 min readOct 20, 2022

Diversity is increasingly becoming an essential practice in the current business environment. Organizations are starting to recognize the importance of establishing more inclusive and ethical work environments. As companies strive to reflect their respective values by promoting inclusivity, such diversity initiatives also help businesses to generate long-term and continuous success.

In a world where technology is rapidly evolving, markets are becoming saturated and over-competitive, and consumer behavior is continuously changing, only the most innovative companies can establish themselves as industry leaders and future-proof their systems for the ever-evolving future of business. The beauty of diversity lies in bringing together different ways of thinking, experiences and perspectives to represent a more holistic view of the world around us.

The UK dedicates the month of October to honor Black History Month, a month devoted to bringing recognition to black history and celebrating the contributions and achievements of the black community. In accordance with this year’s theme, “Time for Change: Action Not Words”, the Intelligent Enterprise Institute highlights the beneficial impact of cultivating diversity within organizations. Keep reading this article to discover how you can embrace diversity and drive actions to promote an inclusive workplace environment at the enterprise level.

What Is a Diverse Team?

To explore how diversity can drive creativity and innovation, we need to reiterate the definition of a diverse team. Diversity refers to differences in ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, educational and socioeconomic background, and culture. A diverse team is a team that embraces the different backgrounds and characteristics of its members, which in turn, enriches the ideas and approaches being contributed to the organization.

It is important to note that diversity can be inherent or acquired, and both contribute equally to cultivating various perspectives within a group. Inherent diversity refers to traits that individuals are born with, including ethnicity or sexual orientation. In contrast, acquired diversity refers to traits gained from experiences, such as living abroad, having higher education or previous occupations.

Front view of an asian woman, a black woman and a white woman walking side by side and smiling.

Importance of a Diverse Team on the Future of Business

Although the term “inclusivity” is often used in the modern business context, few people consider the nuances behind the concept. If we look at its definition, inclusivity refers to the practice of including all kinds of people and treating them fairly and equally. More importantly, inclusivity is rooted in providing equal opportunities and resources for those who might otherwise be excluded. It goes beyond forming a team of members with different backgrounds but also about giving equal recognition to people’s ideas and contributions regardless of their differences.

An inclusive workplace makes employees feel valued and appreciated, increasing their job satisfaction. Satisfied employees are more motivated to contribute ideas and take initiative on tasks, elevating their work quality and overall productivity. Employees who feel respected by their colleagues are more likely to stay with the organization, minimizing employee turnover rates. Therefore, aside from cultivating a positive workplace environment, diverse teams also nurture long-term positive impacts on the organization, including enhancing employee productivity, retaining valuable employees, and minimizing recruitment and hiring expenses. Additionally, diverse teams can connect with a wider range of customers and prospects, enabling a better customer experience and increasing business growth opportunities.

Unfortunately, many companies still fail to recognize the extent of all the benefits diversity can bring as they struggle to dismiss any implicit biases present within the organization. Implicit biases occur when people have attitudes and associate stereotypes with others without conscious knowledge or malicious intent. It is an unconscious bias that happens unintentionally but can still influence judgements and behaviours. Implicit bias can take shape in the form of microaggression, which, while unintentional, can be harmful towards those who are part of a marginalized group of minorities. Microaggressions are insensitive statements, questions or assumptions related to race, gender, sexuality, socioeconomic background, mental health, or any other aspect of our identity. An example of a microaggression could be imposing a westernized version of a person’s culturally ethnic name because it’s easier to pronounce. To become an organization that values inclusivity and promotes diversity, the organization’s employees must be aware of how implicit bias can influence actions and decisions and actively combat microaggressions.

Stimulating Creativity and Innovation with Diversity and Inclusivity

There’s a fascinating relationship between exposure to other cultures and creativity. For instance, many famous creatives did their best work when living overseas. Let’s look at the author Hemingway or the artist Picasso; worldly-recognized individuals who carved their creative visions into history and whose influence is still strong today. Some would argue that Picasso was most productive when he lived in Cote d’Azur, enchanted by the sunshine, sea and the rich history of Southern France. Meanwhile, the exhaustive traveler Hemingway drew inspiration for his work from his travels across Europe, Africa and the Caribbean. So, how do multicultural experiences enhance creativity?

As described in Forbes, a person’s creativity is enriched by their proficiency to integrate different points of view, which rings true when we interact with people in a multicultural environment. It was discovered that multicultural experiences enrich our awareness of the underlying connections between ideas and elevate idea flexibility. In other words, the more diversity there is within a team, the more varied and out-of-the-ordinary their views and opinions will be.

As diversity becomes prevalent within groups in an organization, there is an increased opportunity for creativity to flourish across the employees’ contributions, which also maximizes opportunities for innovation. As described by Daniel Goleman in his piece “What’s the difference between creativity and innovation?” for the World Economic Forum, creativity refers to “the front end of a process that ideally will result in innovation”. An inclusive workforce with diverse profiles can easily identify opportunities and problems specific to the different cultures that could extend to new innovative products or services.

Leadership Skills to Promote Diversity and Inclusivity

A healthy company culture is characterized by the leader’s ability to integrate values such as diversity and inclusivity into their organizational structure. A fundamental requirement for leaders striving to extend inclusivity across the entire organization is to provide a safe, open, and transparent work environment. A work environment where diversity and inclusivity are at the forefront of the company culture will likely attract the best talent, boosting creativity and innovation.

Therefore, along with the skills that any good leader should have, below are specific leadership qualities that are essential in fostering and maintaining diversity and inclusivity within an organization:

Be willing to ask challenging and uncomfortable questions. Leaders should encourage team members to challenge the status quo and drive inclusivity. Sometimes this means having serious or awkward conversations with team members to discuss their fears and innermost feelings or confront their biases. Cultivating this level of honesty and transparency is necessary to identify and resolve issues that impede an inclusive work environment, such as implicit biases and microaggressions.
Be empathetic. Empathy is the ability to understand the feelings or experiences of another, putting yourself in their perspective. A diverse team will consist of individuals who have lived through different experiences and, thus, view the world in different ways. Some are likely to be part of a marginalized group and may have encountered discrimination and prejudice. Leaders need to demonstrate showing authentic empathy to recognize the adversity the employees have experienced regarding their diverse backgrounds.
Be supportive. In a team of people with diverse backgrounds, the leader is responsible for ensuring that inclusivity is maintained. This includes educating employees on the organizational values of diversity and inclusivity, standing up for them when necessary, enforcing principles and leading by example to sustain an inclusive company culture.

Diversity in the Future of Business

To lay the groundwork for the future of business, it is imperative for organizations to put diversity and inclusivity at the forefront of their leadership, practices and overall company culture. Creating diverse teams brings benefits, including increased employee productivity, enhanced creative intelligence, decision-making and problem-solving capabilities and talent retention, positively impacting the organization’s bottom line. Diversity in the workplace also improves the overall organizational culture of the company.

Nevertheless, inclusivity does not usually develop naturally. It needs to be proactively implemented and sustained. Maintaining diversity and inclusivity requires specific skills from leaders and team members. As business leaders, there is a responsibility to uphold values of diversity and inclusivity and extend them across the organization. The business environment is continuously changing, and organizations need to adapt to implement measures and promote principles that more accurately represent the future of business.

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