On The Essentiality of Inclusion

Robert Solow, a professor from MIT, won the Nobel prize for economics in 1987 for a rather intuitive yet masterfully profound theory on economic growth. He showed that a large portion of economic growth came not from adding more factors of production such as labour and capital, but from finding ways to cleverly put those factors of production into work. This meant coming up with new ideas, new methods of production, and better streamlined logistics to cite a few examples. I am a researcher leading a modest-sized team and I have no command over finances. Solow’s theory teaches me that even if I had the luxuries of a bigger team and more resources, my primary focus should really be on innovation, which is all the more true with my ambition being that of fostering growth through technology. So, how can I foster innovation?

One of the main accelerators of innovation is creating a competition for ideas. This means ideas must be freely expressed, empirically and objectively evaluated for their merit, and permitted to exist and flourish. It does not matter who proposes the idea, be it a novice or an expert, what their beliefs are, whether the idea is contrary to popular opinion or belief, or whether it challenges tradition. Anything that does not physically or emotionally harm another individual should be fair game. This means the ability to freely engage in debate, where every voice is heard; where no one feels so insecure about their own beliefs that they are unwilling to listen and evaluate a counterpoint for its merit; where the person making the counterpoint can feel secure in that expressing a differing point of view will not result in a discord of relationships; where there is tolerance and respect in disagreement. That to me is inclusion.

I work for IBM, which has won several accolades for its culture of inclusion. I am from India, a country with a rich heritage of diversity of all kinds and where historically the periods of greatest prosperity and eminence have also been times of tolerance and inclusion. Coming from this environment, inclusion to me is not just an ethic, it is a way of life that is essential for innovation and growth – for total factor productivity growth as Solow called it.

#InclusiveIBM, #CircleofEmpowerment, #PrideMonth