Diversity by Algorithm

"If you set your goals ridiculously high and it's a failure, you will fail above everyone else's success" - James Cameron

Diversity by Algorithm

I had difficulty sleeping last night and, as often is the case when this happens, my thinking started wandering down a rabbit hole and ultimately wrestled with the following question:?

As HR leaders, could we engineer optimally diverse teams by using AI?

Organisations have increasingly recognised diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as both a moral imperative and a core business necessity in a global economy.

Research clearly demonstrates that diverse teams lead to superior innovation, financial performance, and employee engagement. However, despite more progressive DEI policies, most companies have struggled to achieve transformational, lasting diversity throughout the organisation.

So is a novel and slightly controversial, approach required? How about leveraging AI to algorithmically engineer optimally diverse teams and inclusive cultures?

How about leveraging AI to algorithmically engineer optimally diverse teams and inclusive cultures?

The core concept involves analysing huge data sets from inside and outside of the organisation to mathematically model the mix of attributes - both observable demographics and psychological traits and values - that correlate with the highest performing teams.

Powerful AI algorithms could then develop a recipe for which combination of employees would create a maximally innovative and cohesive team given specific project needs.?

The same big data-powered formulas could create HR policies and cultural change initiatives tailored to the company's challenges and goals - identifying leading indicators to drive systems-level shifts towards equity and inclusion.

For example, AI could detect early-stage employee disengagement or burnout

For example, AI could detect early-stage employee disengagement or burnout in underrepresented groups from signals in email, Slack channels, and voice data, triggering interventions before the loss of diverse talent. Automated nudges could even customise managers' communications style to optimise morale and trust for each direct report.?

However, does an AI driven approach also bring with it profound ethical concerns about privacy, manipulation and dehumanisation? Are people reduced to data points rather than multifaceted individuals, even if the intentions are in the best interests of everyone??

Does this workforce engineering evoke dystopian visions of 1984 type corporations?

Does this workforce engineering evoke dystopian visions of 1984 type corporations, programming culture and controlling workers through technology? Are the promised benefits of AI-enabled DEI worth the risks and moral trade-offs??

If we’re struggling to achieve our genuine DEI vision without AI, what harm can there be in giving it a go??

Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Model of the Week - The Teamwork Trifecta

More of a meta-model this week as I bring 3 of Patrick Lencioni's models together to create the fully-rounded approach to effective teams.

1. Get the right people on the bus with The Ideal Team Player model.
2. Get those people on the right seats of the bus using The 6 Types of Working Genius model.
3. Move the bus forward through the 5 Dysfunctions of a Team model.

To find out more detail, read the books or give me a call!

Top Tip - 3 Coins

This tip was shared with me by Niren Chaudhary . It’s really valuable if you are often the HiPPO* in a group.?

Marshall Goldsmith also talks about the danger of ‘adding too much value’ as a leader.?

• To avoid talking too much and supressing the input of others, have three coins in your hand or pocket.
• Each coin represents a single occasion of when you are able to speak.?
• Once you’ve spoken, transfer a coin from one hand or pocket to the other.?
• When you have ‘spent’ your three coins you can no longer speak.?
• You develop the art of spending your coins wisely and speak less as a result.

Other Stuff

• It's been a busy year for BIG birthdays in the Carpenter family. My eldest son was 25 in May, my youngest daughter was 18 in August, my youngest son hit 21 in November and this weekend we celebrate my mum's 80th.
• If you fancy a read of my latest guide GETTING HR A SEAT AT THE TABLE: Positioning yourself as a strategic HR leader in a mid-size business then click on the link.
• Our Christmas tree went up this week - it's still November but I had to bow to family pressure. What are your thoughts on decorations before the start of December?

Contemplative Cartoon

*HiPPO = Highest Paid Person's Opinion