Innovation Demands a Diversity of Thought

There’s an ancient Indian parable about a group of blind men that hear of an elephant being brought to town. Having never seen an elephant before, they decide to go and inspect it, to learn what kind of animal it is.

The first man places his hand upon the elephant’s side and says, “An elephant is like a wall.”

The second man feels its tail and says, “No, it is like a rope.”

The third feels its leg and says, “No, it is like a tree!”

The fourth feels its hard, smooth tusk. “You’re mistaken,” he says. “It is like a spear!”

The fifth feels its trunk and says, “No, I can feel that it is like a snake.”

The sixth feels its ear and says, “You’re all wrong—it is like a fan!”

The moral of the story is that though we all tend to view our subjective perspective as the truth, others could have a different perspective that is equally valid. All six men are correct, to an extent, but only by combining all their perspectives do we get the truest picture of the elephant.

This is why diversity is so critical in business. If we are surrounded by people who think just like we do, we will see the elephant as only like a rope, or a tree, or a fan. We will come up with the same old solutions for our problems.

When you instead introduce a diversity of thought, you create the potential for new, innovative ideas, which gives you a competitive advantage. Let’s take a closer look at what diversity of thought means, and how it can lead to greater innovation.

What Does Diversity Look Like?

When we say “diversity,” a lot of people think of racial diversity. In the US, just like many other places around the world, race and ethnicity have a major impact on people’s life experiences. This is indeed one piece of the diversity puzzle, but if we want to solve issues and challenges, unlock opportunities, and radically reimagine the future, we need to consider diversity in all its forms. 

We need to consider the obvious diversity considerations (black, white, hispanic, male, female, etc.) and those that are less obvious. Different perspectives come from all classifications. They include sexual orientation, gender identity, race and ethnicity, religion, culture, language, different physical ability, political allegiance, and more.

One interesting classification that people often forget is income diversity. Think about the white dude who grew up in a rural area in an environment of workers making nine bucks an hour. He wants to succeed, and he’s determined to make his mark on the world. 

Now, he’ll have a very different perspective to the white dude whose parents were doctors, went to a private high school, an Ivy League college, and now makes $200,000 a year. He also wants to succeed and make his mark on the world, but his varied experiences and perceptions will result in him making very different decisions than the first guy.

The rich white guy might have more in common with an African American colleague who grew up with doctor parents and private schooling, and now has a multi-six-figure salary at the same firm. Race matters, but other factors must be considered as well. In this case, considering income diversity will give you more varied viewpoints than thinking about race alone.

When we search for diversity of thought, we must force ourselves to look beyond labels. We should seek out people who truly offer perspectives unique from our own. Find people with different belief systems formed by different experiences. A genuine drive to include varied people and ideas will serve you better than pencil-whipping “diversity” for the sake of political correctness.

Diverse Thought in Action

Let’s look at an example of diverse thought in action, using the never-ending public health challenge to encourage more people to eat healthy foods. 

Healthy foods make for healthier people and, in turn, less strain on the economy. Healthy people take fewer sick days, contribute more to society, and require fewer resources. But raw kale tastes like crap and costs more than a bag of chips, so we all know which food low-income families are more likely to choose. Hell, most high-income families choose chips over healthier alternatives, too.

As those who earn less are hit hardest by health challenges, you often hear people talking about improving access to fresh foods for low-income families. They’ll say, “Well, maybe supermarkets can increase consumption of fresh foods for low-income families by providing easy-to-understand menus that show how affordable healthy meals can be.” And you probably think the same thing I did. What a great idea!

But if the conference room has diversity of thought, there might be someone there who actually understands the low-income community the program needs to reach. They’ll say, “Wait, you missed something. People in this community aren’t going to the supermarket. They won’t even see your glossy menu cards next to the shelf full of kale.”

Then, they’ll explain that many people in their community don’t own a car, so they’d have to take the bus to and from the supermarket, and it’s a pain in the ass to carry groceries on public transit. So, they might go there once a month, but they buy most of their food from a corner store. It’s the only convenient location. And what food does the corner store sell? Chips. Cookies. Crackers.

With diversity of thought, you can discover that the problem won’t be solved with affordable menu cards stacked in the supermarket. And you can make that discovery before you spend a fortune hiring some celebrity chef to design the damn things and printing a billion of them. You can figure out that the solution might be in supplying corner stores with fresh food products, and actually do something that will make an impact.

But you won’t get there without diversity of thought. I can guarantee that if you got a bunch of high-net-worth individuals in a room and asked them to solve the challenge of encouraging low-income families to eat fresh foods, you’d end up with some healthy menu bullshit clogging up a retail environment. You’d totally miss the way life works in the communities you’re trying to impact.

More Perspectives = More Ideas = More Innovation

Increasing diversity in your business isn’t just a nice thing to do; it will result in more imaginative and more fulfilling business leaps. It’s truly transformational for individuals and businesses.

Innovation relies upon new ideas. The more perspectives you have, the more ideas you have. Not every idea is going to be a groundbreaking innovation, but all it takes is one great idea.

If you want to do the same, old, tired things everyone else is doing, then sure, surround yourself with people who look just like you, who grew up in a similar environment, who share similar beliefs, and earn similar incomes. But if you want to do something new, transformative, or revolutionary, foster a diversity of thought.

For more advice on innovation and diversity, you can find The Elephant’s Dilemma on Amazon.

Jon Bostock was a tethered elephant at General Electric for eleven years until he made his move and became the COO at Big Ass Fans (true story, real name). After restructuring the company and focusing on long-term economic sustainability, he was successful in shepherding the company’s landmark sale. These concepts of disruption and sustainability inspired Jon to break free and start Truman’s, a company designed to reduce waste and clutter in the consumer cleaning products industry. Jon lives in New Orleans with his wife, Marigny, and their two children, Evan and Will.