Ali Bytes: Bullet-sized strategies for modern living

One of the more valuable lessons underscored in business school (which I finished last month by the way), was the value in questioning assumptions. For example, the perception that diversity programs are about legal compliance. While I’ve been in countless debates about the strengths and weaknesses of affirmative action (just one representation of such programs), the reality is that organizations that embrace diversity, rather than look at it as a check mark on a government form, gain a competitive advantage by creating an environment that allows all employees to contribute and grow.

Unfortunately, this part of the debate often doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Now that we have elected a black President, I think it’s worth reflecting that diversity is not just “the right thing to do” but, in almost all situations, the better thing to do. Recruiting, retaining and motivating people of diverse backgrounds - whether that means race, gender, ability, sexual orientation, culture, age, language, etc. - can provide firms with competitive advantage in these ways.

1. More accurate representation of customers leads to improved customer and client relations. Workplaces that reflect the customer base attract the attention of wider consumer segments at a time when once small niche markets are replacing long-time majorities. Companies that effectively employ people that share their customers’ demographics, capture and retain them through improved marketing messages and demonstration of understanding of their customers’ needs and wants.
2. Different skills, values, and experiences means employees have a lot to learn from one another. Providing an environment where all kinds are welcome makes for a more open questioning and learning culture which, by nature, leads to innovation, improved professional growth and, by many standards, a more challenging and fulfilling place to work.
3. Varying perspectives mean less group think and increased creativity. Studies show that diverse teams produce more innovative solutions to problems. Tackling an issue from multiple backgrounds and experiences ensures that groups look at more angles of the challenge, consider more consequences and explore more options for a path forward which in turn leads to better decision making. Consider this next time your weird colleague is driving you crazy. Look at Ideo’s staff as an example of this in practice.
4. Adjusting to diversity encourages flexibility. The ability to balance different perspectives on a regular basis makes employees more open to constant change and nimble when business warrants it. And speaking of perspectives, from where I sit, getting used to adjusting one’s thought process is essential to productive critical thinking.

Many of these points come from a 1997 article from the Academy of Management called Building a Business Case for Diversity (pdf) by Gail Robinson and Kathleen Dechant.

Last year, to look ahead to 2008, I wrote about 7 words you’ll hear more in 2008. For 2009, here are some ideas to ruminate on and a little foreshadowing of some posts to come (in no particular order). Despite all the year end/year beginning lists out there, I don’t think this one has been done.

1. Diversity is an old, old wooden ship (and something HR has to worry about).
2. Success comes from having the winning idea.
3. Everything in moderation.
4. Organizations are either for profit or non profit (or government).
5. Unsolicited advice should remain internal monologue.
6. We can all become great multitaskers.
7. Your friends care what you’re doing all the time.
8. Having answers will get you ahead.
9. It’s ok to wear your cell phone, blackberry, iPhone, Trio, pager, PDA, etc.

I came across these two interesting approaches to 21st Century education. What do you think? Bribery and child’s play or innovative?

1. Cash and gadget incentives: One program offers $100 to students who receive a passing grade on advanced placement exams. Another offers high school students cash incentives to improve their scores on state graduation exams. Contrary to intuition and opposition, making good grades literally pay off may be exactly the pay off taxpayers need. A July 2008 analysis of a Texas program found that this kind of incentive was linked to increased SAT and ACT scores and an 8% rise in college bound students. One critic at the National Center for Fair & Open Testing argues that these kind of incentives are “similar to giving [students and teachers] steroids” leading to short term gain but long term damage. I don’t know though. If working adults are motivated by monetary compensation, why not try it on youth that may not yet have the maturity to value knowledge as a reward in itself?
2. Video Games: In 2008, video game sales reached $32 billion worldwide, beating DVD and Blu-ray combined by more than 10%. As game consoles like Wii are attracting a whole new audience and others are becoming more technologically and graphically sophisticated, it makes sense that educators are exploring using them in the classroom. Some professionals argue that video games “simulate the real-world situations in the classroom to help students develop critical-thinking skills.” Interestingly, an example of an education game to teach math and science is one where students are “confronted with aliens who have landed on Earth and seem to be preparing to either peacefully hook up with earthlings, invade, plunder – or return to their home planet.” Real-world huh? Still, the argument that games allow students to become “immersed in a digital world where they can build confidence” sounds innovative and promising. Merrilea Mayo of the Kauffman Foundation puts it well: “Unlike lectures, games can be adapted to the pace of the user. Games also simultaneously present information in multiple visual and auditory modes, which capitalizes on different learning styles.”

After a four month hiatus, it’s time for the eighth edition of the Dudgington Post blog off. For those who have forgotten or are new to the blog off, my good friend Geoff and I each write a post on a single randomly selected topic (To name a few we’ve done in the past: security guards, entrepreneurship, snooze buttons and even zucchini blossoms.)

This time we’re talking about a topic I selected: collaboration, “a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together toward an intersection of common goals,” according to Wikipedia (irony intended). Though I’ve always been a fan, in the last few months I’ve become a kind of evangelist for the concept. Here are some really fascinating bits and pieces collected on the power of collaboration. Of course, in the spirit of collaboration, leave a comment with your favorite example.

1. The Collaboration Project: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what we can do together.” If you think Obama is the first breath of fresh air we’ve had in government in the last 8 years, you haven’t see this site. Launched last spring and powered by the National Academy of Public Administration, this wiki is an “independent forum of leaders committed to leveraging web 2.0 and the benefits of collaborative technology to solve government’s complex problems.” I am especially impressed by the site’s incredibly clear and concise case summaries that highlight business challenge, approach taken, results achieved, lessons learned and references. Examples of innovative initiatives include Wiser Earth, “a meeting ground for people wishing to “transform” the World,” and GovLoop.com, the premier social network connecting the government community. The site and examples are well worth digging into.
2. Charles Leadbeater: The rise of the amateur professional: As you may know, I love TED talks. Author and professional creativity expert, Leadbeater remarks that “The payoffs to innovation are greatest when the uncertainty is highest.” He makes a solid argument for open source, claiming that sustaining consumer driven innovation is the only true competitive force against a monopoly, and that turning (or rather allowing) consumers to become producers multiplies resources - and therefore possibilities - by leaps and bounds. I can get behind that idea.
3. SlideShare.net: “The world’s largest community for sharing presentations” is like YouTube for presentations and has an employee who calls himself the “Head Geek.” As someone who used PPT for client deliverables on a regular basis, I find this site incredibly helpful if for no other reason that to see what other people are doing. The only problem with the site is that good slide decks shouldn’t be understood without words (or rather bad slide decks are those that speak without a speaker) so is the site encouraging laziness in presentation skills? While adding voice is an option, my quick search found few with voice accompaniments. Nonetheless, here’s a great slide deck I found while perusing on How emotions work: Preference and action by a dashing Norwegian named Helge Tennø. Great quote from one slide, though there are a lot of great quotes in the PPT: “In the choice between changing one’s mind and proving there’s no need to do so, most people get busy on the proof.”
4. The Collaboration Prize: On March 5, 2009, the founder and lone funder of this innovative idea, The Lodestar Foundation will award $250,000 to a “collaboration among two or more nonprofit organizations that each would otherwise provide the same or similar programs or services and compete for clients, financial resources and staff.” This Phoenix-based philanthropic organization rewards the idea of “identifying and adopting a mission that is not focused on any specific field of interest and focusing instead on leveraging resources…[that] can maximize the impact of helping others and thereby create a greater opportunity to achieve happiness.” Why I love this project: This is the essence of what inspired me to go to business school and what I aspire to do with my career. I can’t wait to see who wins.