{"id":530,"date":"2020-01-30T12:11:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-30T01:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.herrmann.com.au\/blog\/?p=530"},"modified":"2021-08-25T14:53:46","modified_gmt":"2021-08-25T04:53:46","slug":"important-talent-management-idea-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/herrmann.co.nz\/2020\/01\/important-talent-management-idea-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"The Most Important Talent Management Idea of 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"
Our bet for the biggest idea in management for 2020? Cognitive diversity. Cognitive diversity is a broad concept, but we define it as the differences in the thinking (i.e. cognition, perspective or information processing styles) that people use to process the world around them, collaborate, solve problems, and make decisions.<\/span><\/p>\n Understanding these differences in thinking, and how to harness them, enables teams to tackle problems in new ways and increase their productivity. For organisations, building a culture of inclusion around these varied perspectives strengthens that culture, builds agility in change, and ultimately drives better business results.<\/span><\/p>\n An increasing number of recent studies have validated what we\u2019ve been championing for years: that cognitive diversity in teams yields more creativity, faster problem solving, and greater productivity. Our own research, for example, has shown that cognitive diversity makes teams <\/span>66% more productive<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But it goes beyond just team productivity. Diversity and inclusion will remain a critical agenda item for leaders and organisations, and cognitive diversity can play a valuable role in creating a foundation of trust and inclusion that enables more transformative discussions about other forms of diversity. Using a common language to understand similarities and differences in cognition can serve as a bridge between people who might not otherwise identify as a part of the same in-group. Cognitive diversity is a perfect launching point for tough conversations about other forms of diversity because it gives anyone who might feel excluded from the discussion a way of feeling included – that they are part of the solution rather than the problem.<\/span><\/p>\n This speaks to one of the many organisation-wide advantages we\u2019ve uncovered in our many years striving to harness cognitive diversity. In addition to the cumulative benefits of having lots of teams functioning more productively, we\u2019ve seen a profound impact on the culture of the companies that have figured out how to leverage cognitive diversity. This, in turn, has resulted in far-reaching benefits, from \u201cBest place to work\u201d awards and huge improvements in retention, to strengthened customer relationships and more innovative products.<\/span><\/p>\n Like many newer fields of management study, a more nuanced understanding of cognitive diversity is emerging. Our work with <\/span>INSEAD<\/span><\/a>, the global business school, has begun to look at more sophisticated ways of measuring cognitive diversity in teams. We developed an index of teams\u2019 cognitive diversity based on the HBDI\u00ae, our widely used diagnostic for measuring cognitive preference. In doing so, we uncovered three points that we think will become important parts of the overall talent discussion in 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n First, there is an <\/span>optimal<\/span><\/i> amount of cognitive diversity to get the best performance out of a team. Whereas most of the recent studies of cognitive diversity simply postulate that \u201cmore is better,\u201d we\u2019ve found that a curve better describes the relationship between cognitive diversity and team performance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhy is cognitive diversity important?\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
New insights on cognitive diversity<\/span><\/h2>\n
1. The Cognitive Diversity Curve<\/span><\/h3>\n