Comments on: Some Situational Sources and Consequences of Diversity http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2008/01/13/the-situational-sources-and-consequences-of-diversity/ Fri, 24 May 2013 09:25:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: The Value of Diversity… « Diversity 2.0 http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2008/01/13/the-situational-sources-and-consequences-of-diversity/#comment-15385 Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:19:32 +0000 http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2008/01/13/the-situational-sources-and-consequences-of-diversity/#comment-15385 [...] January 13, 2008 at 3:12 pm [...]

]]> By: Grue http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2008/01/13/the-situational-sources-and-consequences-of-diversity/#comment-11893 Sun, 20 Jan 2008 16:34:38 +0000 http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2008/01/13/the-situational-sources-and-consequences-of-diversity/#comment-11893 Good point Joshua. Also, if we are going to allow effectiveness as a reason for diversity, doesn’t that mean we should also allow it as a reason against diversity in some cases?

For instance, if a job is mostly rote, perhaps introducing diversity will just lead to extraneous conflicts at the workplace that impede productivity. I’m some someone could conjure a mathematical model that would show this effect also.

]]> By: Joshua Strausser http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2008/01/13/the-situational-sources-and-consequences-of-diversity/#comment-11647 Sun, 13 Jan 2008 19:12:30 +0000 http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2008/01/13/the-situational-sources-and-consequences-of-diversity/#comment-11647 I have small issue with this: “What the model showed was that diverse groups of problem solvers outperformed the groups of the best individuals at solving problems. The reason: the diverse groups got stuck less often than the smart individuals, who tended to think similarly.”

From the complex systems viewpoint, this really just says it is better to have lots of suboptimal agents searching over a RUGGED solution landscape, rather than having a singular agent who can be trapped by local extrema. And while I see and certainly agree with the value of this viewpoint in relation to creative organizations, I don’t see it offering much towards firms whose work is essentially rote. Typical office situations come to mind. So what is my upside in encouraging diversity for your standard issue manager?

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