We may bemoan the lack of talent when we’re looking to recruit. All the sages (and indicators) tell us there’s a shortage. Meanwhile we may express a need to bring fresh thinking into the team or organisation and commit to doing so.
Then there’s the likelihood that we get caught in the urgency trap. Needing to fill the vacancy to alleviate the strain on colleagues covering the gap or simply to ensure that the work that’s been neglected gets done.
So we seek the solution in the familiar. We hire people like us and our team – similar in outlook, thinking and personality. Of course, this solves the problem satisfactorily, and with a minimum of fuss our new person slots into place.
But we’re still left searching for that different thinking and fresh perspective that could come from choosing a different option to our ‘norm’ – people who have a different, and perhaps more challenging, worldview, or whose path to our door has been less conventional.
Yes, this may introduce more friction, or even conflict, into the environment but diversity of thinking leads to a 20 per cent uplift in innovation and a 30 decrease in risks according to Deloitte’s Diversity and Inclusion Revolution report. Outcomes may take a little longer to achieve but they’ll be more inspired, more effective and generate more pride. Wouldn’t that be worth the risk?