Marvin Carolina, Jr., board member for Mountain Plains MSDC and vice president for JE Dunn Construction, wrote a fascinating piece in the KC Star this week about the true meaning of a diverse workplace. While diversity includes demographics, such as ethnicity and birthplace, he encourages business owners to think outside the box and embrace a variety of mindsets and opinions.
Carolina says, “If your employees are constantly saying ‘That’s what I was thinking’ in staff meetings, your business lacks diversity of thought. No matter how talented or well-trained your employees, to optimize their collective value, they need to have diverse ideas and opinions. When you begin hearing them say ‘I never thought about that,’ you’ve found the right mix.” Essentially, different ways of thinking are crucial to a business’ success because diverse teams perform at a higher level. Forbes, in a 2014 article, said researchers found that groups of diverse problem solvers outperformed groups of high-ability problem solvers. Click here to read more.
