Innovation is crucial to success, especially in today’s economy, and diversity is crucial to innovation.

But diversity refers to much more than race, creed, or gender.

Juicing creativity and innovation requires a strong diversity of both thought and skills within your organization—homogenizing your workforce dilutes the juice.

Thought Diversity

True mental diversity is about MAP and mental function, not just a race and gender. I’ve known managers whose organizations were mini-UNs with equal numbers of males and females, but they might as well have been cloned from the boss, their thinking was so identical.

There are three main ways to homogenize thought

• Hire all the same types, most often “people like me;”
• scorn/belittle/reject anything that doesn’t conform with your own MAP/ideas/approach; or
• allow others in your organization to do the first two.

As your organization grows more diverse you want to celebrate controversy, encourage disagreement, and enable discussions—all within a civilized framework that debates the merits of ideas, not individuals.

Skills Diversity

Skills homogeny is just as detrimental to innovation. As with MAP, people tend to gravitate towards people whose skills are within their or their group’s comfort zone; worse, managers may be unaware of the full range of skills available within the group.

The fix for skills homogeny is far simpler, since it requires awareness and mechanical action, rather than changes in MAP.

Use this three-step process to better identify and access your group’s skills

1. Skills survey: Have each person in your group create a complete list of all their skills, not just the ones they’re using in their current job, but also those from previous positions and companies, as well as skills they’ve developed outside of work. Have them rate each skill 1-5 (five being the strongest) based on their expertise. (I’ve yet to see a manager do this who wasn’t surprised at the results.)
2. Skills set matrix: Using a spreadsheet, create a matrix of the information.
3. Repeat and update: go through the entire process and update the matrix twice a year; add every new hire’s info immediately.

Be sure to consult the matrix every time you develop a new position or replace someone, whether through promotion or attrition.

Knowing all this gives you tremendous staffing flexibility. For example, you may have someone in your group who’s developed the needed skills on a new project and would be thrilled to move to the it. Then, using the matrix, you can design the new position to fill other skill gaps, both current and future.

The end result is a well-rounded organization of people inspired to learn new skills, because they know that they won’t be relegated to a rut just because “that’s what they’ve always done.”

Viva La Difference is the rallying cry for the anti-homogenizing movement.

(For more on how to diversify click here, here and here.)

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Image credit: ZedBee|Zoë Power on flickr

I received and email in response to last Tuesday’s post about the value of adding QF to your culture’s DNA that absolutely floored me.

“Jess” said that “the disruption caused by indulging in QF” was expensive and difficult considering today’s economy. He said that this wasn’t the time to look for innovation, but to focus on survival; and that even in good times innovation was expensive and not all companies could afford that level of brain power.

Granted, a lot of CEOs have a hunker down mentality right now, but even casual reading will show that the smartest companies, whether large or small, are using this time to innovate and build, so they can move swiftly when things turn around.

But it was the special brain power for innovation that blew me away.

Innovation isn’t about hiring a Steve Jobs think-alike, but about tapping into the people you have and creating a culture that encourages and rewards ideas—even if they upset the status quo.

One of the most innovative and creative business segments these days (and historically) is the wholesale drug trade, AKA, drug lords.

The constant innovation required to smuggle their product is amazing and I doubt that the innovators have special training or degrees from Ivy League schools (other than their financial and legal talent).

The innovation is driven by market forces and necessity.

Creativity is a mindset that can be cultivated in everybody IF the company’s culture supports it and managers have skin in the game.

The requirements for a culture of innovation are already well represented here and in numerous other places.

Skin is accomplished by tying part of managers’ compensation to the group’s innovation.

This requires a well publicized set of measurements, not a boss’ opinion that changes with mood or whim.

(Hat tip to Biz Levity for the drug link. Subscribe if you want to add some business-irreverent laughter to your life).

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Image credit: ZedBee|Zoë Power on flickr

My regular readers know that normally Wordless Wednesday is truly wordless, but all good rules have exceptions and flexibility is a virtue.

The video is a great example of how an innovative combination of socially unacceptable food and a culture of exceptional customer care turned a restaurant into a destination and a major hit with people who aren’t intimidated by the food police. Heart Attack Grill here we come! (Good grief, a reason to go to Chandler, Ariz.)

Watch CBS Videos Online

That’s innovation you can eat, now for innovation you can drive.

Honda has a culture that’s known to not just tolerate failure, but to celebrate it. It’s an approach that other companies would do well to emulate.

Take a look at Failure: The Secret To success and listen to what Honda’s own people have to say.

(Hat tip to Robert Farago at The Truth About Cars for this connection.)

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Image credit: CBS News