Diversity is wonderful, complex and useful.

If two people on a committee agree with each other on everything, there is one too many. Diversity creates flexibility, strength, and the ability to thrive in a changing environment.

The diversity within ethnic and gender groups makes these hard questions to answer. There are many ways to be European-American, to be African-American, to be male or female. There are important work related differences in ethnicity and gender and these must not be minimized, but cognitive diversity is directly related to work tasks.

A story about shapes.

In pre-school we learned our basic shapes; circle, square, triangle and rectangle. In grade school we learned about solids, or three-dimensional versions of our basic shapes. In high school we learned about complex polygons, about geodesics, about how simple shapes combine to form complex shapes. A soccer ball is a wonderful shape, combining five and six sided flat shapes to produce something like a sphere. But you cannot make a soccer ball from a circle, a square, a triangle or a rectangle, you need something more complex and the shapes need to work together.

Learn to create complexity and diversity from simple building blocks.

Cognitive diversity is about people, about all people, and about how they solve problems, how they are creative and how they respond to change.

Why cognitive diversity and not ethnic diversity or gender diversity?

Cognitive style is well defined, is easy to measure and has well known implications for working together.

Cognitive style diversity is a simple and elegant place to start making an asset out of the the positive diversity in the workplace.

Without diversity, a changing environment can lead to extinction.

Just ask a dinosaur or any of the other extinct species, or companies that no longer do business because they couldn't adapt to modern times.

Diversity is "life's longing for itself" (Gibran).

Diversity is about many things; cognitive style, ethnicity, gender, eye color. Using a simple concept of diversity, like cognitive diversity, like gender diversity, or eye color diversity, is a way to start learning, to start moving from the simple to the complex.

Learning specific knowledge and effective skills to work with diversity enables people to create effective teams. Just learning about diversity can expand the gap between people.

Diversity training is an important step toward keeping the promise of judging people “. . . not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” (Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.). The best diversity training focuses on research-based knowledge about one’s self and others, presents knowledge grounded in research and practice and trains people in key interpersonal skills.

A story about potatoes.

The Irish potato famine of 1845-1850 was a tragedy that could have been prevented. The variety of potato widely grown in Ireland (the Lumper) was the same nearly everywhere; there was little diversity in the crop. The potato blight (Phytophthora infestans) that attacked Ireland’s primary food source during those horrible years only attacked that single variety of potato. If farmers had been growing diverse varieties of potato, the effects of the disease would have been cushioned and history would be different.

Diversity provides strength in times of change and challenge.

How is this different from other diversity workshops?

This is not about eye color, about gender, and not about ethnicity. I have been teaching about multi cultural and diversity issues for years. I realize how easy it is to create a powerful emotional experience by grouping people according to eye color and then discriminating against one group. In fact, this is one of the first exercises that I do with young people. With adults, we all have had experience with diversity and discrimination; these experiences only provide an emotional charge, not a behavior change.  

I use the Five Factor model of personality which is much more reilable and valid than other measures of personality. There is strong research and practice base using the five factor model, but the complexity issue remains. Five factors generate 32 'types' if viewed simply enough. Effectively using and interpreting complex personality tests begins with advanced graduate level training.

A question of diversity.

When does diversity matter? When was the last time at work that your gender was an important help or hindrance to you? When was the last time at work that your ethnicity was an important help or hindrance to you? Your eye color? Your political views? Your cognitive style? Some differences are important and some are minor. What is important today, may not be important tomorrow.

Important differences today may not be important differences tomorrow, knowing what diversities are important when is key.

Cognitive diversity is about how:

Using the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory (developed by Dr. Michael Kirton), cognitive diversity is a simple and elegant starting point for understanding important individual differences in the work place. Teamwork, especially excellent teamwork, requires that we contribute based on our unique gifts. 

Adaption-Innovation is simple and elegant, developed in real-world work settings in multiple countries. A-I examines important individual differences in vital work tasks; solving problems, being creative and responding to change.

Half-Day Workshops (follow this link for a workshop outline)

Attending an intense workshop for more than a half day is difficult. Learning is reduced during the second half of the day, even in a very active workshop. Combining half-day events over a period of weeks allows people to learn one day and apply their learning in work settings over time. A second, third and even fourth workshop will reinforce the behavior changes and teach new knowledge and skills.

  • Grounded in work settings.

  • Focus on work related issues:

    • Solving problems

    • Being creative

    • Responding to change

  • Teaches specific knowledge and effective skills grounded in research and practice.

  • Focus on building teams and developing community that embrace diversity of many kinds.

  • Uses the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory (KAI).

Recommended for groups and teams who work together.

A 20 minute assessment is required of each participant before the Basic workshop, and attendance at the Basic workshop is required for the advanced workshop.

 

Basic Cognitive Diversity

Knowledge goals:

  • The nature of diversity.

  • The strength of diversity.

  • Your A-I gifts and others A-I gifts.

Skill goals:

  • Improving your ability to present yourself to other people. 

  • How to present your gifts in a group.

  • Improving your ability to listen to other people. 

    • How to listen for other people's gifts.

    • How to help other people clarify their gifts.

    • Bridging between different cognitive styles.

  • Improving your ability to use A-I diversity to manage others appropriately.

    • Supervising different A-I styles.

  • Improving your ability to plan and complete projects using A-I .

    • Using different A-I talents for different parts of a project.

  • Coping skills – doing the non-preferred.

Intermediate Cognitive Diversity - Using Cognitive Diversity Effectively

  • More about A-I

  • Planning and managing projects

  • Supervising people and being supervised

  • Team analysis and teamwork

 

Advanced Cognitive Diversity Applying Cognitive Diversity to Specific Issues
  • Advanced knowledge about A-I
  • Advanced supervision with A-I
  • Advanced planning and managing with A-I
  • Advanced Team-Building with A-I

 
Additional Advanced Cognitive Diversity workshops are available on request.

 

 

Why so many words?

You shouldn't devote staff time and energy for training without knowing what you will get, and knowing what you will get requires an appropriate level of detail.

Contact Will Barratt, Ph.D. about this diversity workshops. will at willbarratt dot com

Return to Dr. Barratt's Home Page

Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory (KAI) developed by Dr. Michael Kirton (http://www.kaicenter.com)

“Life’s longing for itself” is from Kahlil Gibran 1883-1931 “The Prophet”

“The content of their character . . . “ is from Martin Luthor King, Jr. “I have a dream” speech delivered on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963.

Excellence with an edge.

 

 Will Barratt The Box Paradox

Copyright Will Barratt, 2002, Last updated 06/28/07 Hit Counter