The 3 Types of Diversity That Shape Our Identities.06-03

Diversity means different things to different people. In a study of 180 Spanish corporate managers, we explored perceptions of diversity and found that depending on who is answering, diversity usually means one of three things: demographic diversity (our gender, race, sexual orientation, and so on), experiential diversity (our affinities, hobbies, and abilities), and cognitive diversity (how we approach problems and think about things). All three types shape identity — or rather, identities.

Demographic diversity is tied to our identities of origin — characteristics that classify us at birth and that we will carry around for the rest of our lives. Experiential diversity is based on life experiences that shape our emotional universe. Affinity bonds us to people with whom we share some of our likes and dislikes, building emotional communities. Experiential diversity influences we might call identities of growth. Cognitive diversity makes us look for other minds to complement our thinking: what we might call identities of aspiration.

It is important to remember that categories only serve the purpose of classification; in the real world, differences between these categories are blurred. Diversity is dynamic. But we believe this diversity framework, though somewhat artificial (as all frameworks are) can be useful to companies who are trying to refresh their approach to managing diversity. What kind of diversity does your company focus on? Could you benefit from broadening your perspective? Let’s take a closer look at each in turn.

Managing identities of origin. Since the 1980s, most global companies have developed diversity and inclusion policies led by human resources. The most frequent include: assessment tools (climate surveys, statistics monitoring, minority targets), human resources programs (flexible policies, mentoring or coaching), communication campaigns, and training programs.

Consider Sodexho. In 2002 the company hired a chief diversity officer, Anand Rohini, to make diversity a priority. Some of the diversity priorities at Sodexho focused on gender, ethnicity, disabilities, and age. Its diversity strategy included a series of systems and processes covering human resources policies (such as flexibility measures, training, selection processes and career services); diversity scorecards; and quantitative targets, mainly regarding numbers of women and minorities, not only in the organization in general but also in leadership positions. By 2005 Sodexho was widely recognized as a diversity champion. For more than a decade it has been consistently ranked among the best of the DiversityInc top 50 list, and Anand Rohini has been widely recognized as a global diversity champion.

For Sodexho and other companies taking a similar approach, the result is an enhanced company image and reputation. Talented individuals in general, but from minorities in particular, select companies in which they expect to feel appreciated.

Managing identities of growth. Identities of growth often provide us with a feeling of security. Our likes and dislikes change over time, and so our affinity groups change. Identities of growth dictate who we spend time with.

Many companies have developed friendship-based communities among employees, typically organizing activities such as weekends away, departmental Christmas parties, and so on, in a bid to create emotional ties between workers and the company. But because emotional communities are held together as much by the likes as by the dislikes of members, they can be unpredictable and difficult to manage in the long term. As a result, these emotional communities can sometimes work to the benefit of organizations, but they can just as often end up having the opposite effect, particularly when people share a dislike for certain policies, a particular boss, or for what they consider to be an unfair situation.

Our research suggests that the best policy for dealing with communities of growth is through minimum intervention. Emotional communities will emerge in organizations, whether management likes it or not, and will have a life of their own. For that reason it is best to take a neutral position. Creating affinity groups is positive for the company. But these groups should always be voluntary and develop at their own pace, without management interference.

Managing identities of aspiration. Our cognitive differences find their place in a community of aspiration. In those communities, we are valued for our unique way of understanding and interpreting the world. A community of aspiration is a space where our ideas are valued for their contribution to a common project, regardless of our different traits or individual likes or dislikes.

Innovative organizations are shifting from managing units to managing challenges or projects, asking employees to voluntarily join projects, creating structures where employees can move out of their comfort zones to join temporary communities of aspiration that strengthen cross-organizational ties and help the company achieve its strategic goals.

Corporate experience shows that the most effective strategy for companies to manage communities of aspiration is to create the contexts and the projects for them to emerge.

Valve Corporation, a video game developer, has defined a unique corporate structure with no bosses or managers at all. Each member of the company is invited to define their contribution to the company according to their choices and preferences. A highly talented developer specialized in graphics animation might choose to work on a game by assuming a “group contributor role,” becoming part of the group developing that game.

After finishing this “group contribution,” the same person might choose to work in a more individualistic fashion on the next task. This “free to choose” approach is mirrored in the firm’s office design. Valve offices incorporate wheeled desks to foster mobility and allow the fast configuration and reconfiguration of groups as well as individual work.

Understanding multiple types of diversity is particularly relevant in our tribal times. Individuals now construct identities consciously. We want to play with a multiplicity of identities and use them in as many different roles as their different affiliations allow.

We live in complex times, when complex solutions are need it and where a one solution for all approach no longer works. Each form of diversity is different and requires its own management strategy to effectively integrate people. Diversity is a journey and, like any journey, requires careful navigation.

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Designing for Diversity Inclusive design matters. 11-07

Lately, in every article or newsletter I read about user experience design, the terms “diversity” and “inclusive design” flash before my eyes. The UX design community has been buzzing about diversity and inclusion. Design professionals, in the corporate world and agencies, are racing to show how diversity makes their teams strong and unique, how they design not only for users of all ages, but of genders, races, levels of impairment and disability, culture and ethnicity. Diversity and inclusive design are no doubt on the forefront, as we come together as a global economy.

I recently had the opportunity to be a speaker at an event hosted by Designers & Geeks in San Francisco. The theme was diversity and design — what roles do diversity and inclusivity play in design today, and why is that important?

This got me thinking about what these terms really mean to me. While I have been in the UX design industry for many years now, I started recalling experiences outside of my career. About 20 years ago I migrated to the United States, still at the earlier stages of my adult life. Anyone who has tried to make a new home in a country with a totally different culture and ideology can tell you it’s one of the most overwhelming things you could experience. Many of the problems that users encounter with a new environment, are caused by design teams with biases and assumptions about how things should work. When users encounter such design biases, they are often forced to unlearn their prior mental models and learn a new approach — essentially having to adapt their thinking and behavior in order to use the product. Clearly this is not user centered or universal design, and we should do all that we can to reduce this gulf of evaluation for our users.

I appreciated this speaking opportunity as a chance to highlight all the efforts towards diversity and inclusivity that I see around me at IBM Design. More so, I appreciated this chance to reflect upon what these concepts really mean to me. Those 20 years ago as a newcomer to the U.S., I experienced first hand what it feels like to be on the outside looking in. These kind of experiences help us see what it means to truly be inclusive, and how the presence or absence of inclusivity has a huge impact on people and outcomes.

Thoughts of diversity and inclusion were relevant and important to me long before these words were used in advertising campaigns. Today, I’m glad to be in an industry that has come to value them, and is working to make these ideas a larger part of our everyday lives. When it came time for me to prepare for my talk, I thought about how diversity plays a role in my job today. As design practitioners, we must pursue a diversity of approach in all that we do: from how we make things (that is, our design approach), to who we make them with (diverse teams), to who we make them for (our users). I didn’t need to look far as IBM Design Thinking features these two core principles:

• Focus on user outcomes
• Diverse empowered teams

You may have heard these principles being repeated so often that they sometimes almost lose their meaning. However these terms are truly embedded into our design culture. As designers, we don’t miss any opportunity to use our super power: empathy. Whether it’s the IBM Accessibility practice or the sponsor user program, our goals revolve around inclusivity and empathy. We constantly remind ourselves that we are not our users. As a global company, we recruit people and work with clients from different cultures, with different perspectives. Diversity and inclusiveness are close to the heart of IBM Design.

                                                Source: IBM Design

I’ve seen these principles applied to everything we do at IBM Design, over and over again. With incoming design hires, we offer an in-depth, immersive design thinking bootcamp, where we not only educate new designers on the methods, tools and guidelines, but we also introduce and foster empathy, experientially via empathy map techniques, storyboards, journey maps, etc. From the very beginning, we teach all our design recruits to put the user at the very center of whatever business challenge they are working on.

When I was visiting one of our bootcamps some time ago, I got to sit in on a user research session where the organizers brought in a visually impaired person as part of user research study. The participants heard a first-hand account from the speaker of what it was like to navigate interfaces with a visual disability. I also got to see early career designers carry out low vision simulations and truly get a feel of what it’s like to lack visual acuity. Using filters that simulated various visual disabilities, designers were able to quickly test designs for contrast, type scale and visual clarity. These are just some of the many examples that I have seen inclusivity deeply integrated into our design practice. I was struck with the dedication of our IBM Design team to constantly put the user at the core of our work, and bringing that into our design education.

I believe that we have a moral responsibility to embrace diversity in all that we do. It is also essential to the success of our teams. When building teams we have to realize that, we aren’t just assigning resources — we are framing our approach to the problem. Each team member brings their unique point of view and expertise to the team, widening the range of possible outcomes. If you want to generate a breakthrough idea, intentionally form diverse teams by design.

Diverse teams approach the same problem from many perspectives. They tend to generate more ideas, making them more effective problem solvers. While it takes effort to align different perspectives, it’s at the cross section of our differences that our most meaningful innovations originate. Diverse teams that believe and practice inclusive principles, will have the deepest impact in building products and experiences designed for everyone.

We need to consider all spectrums of diversity and inclusion: visible differences (genders, race, language etc.), non-visible differences (e.g., LGBT) and diversity of mindset (different thoughts, perspectives, experiences). Diversity and inclusivity are not just buzzwords. These words are burgeoning with potential, and have the power to move our society towards something better. A case in point is the “Inclusion drives innovation” theme of this year’s U.S. National Disability Employment Awareness Month (October). As I look around at the work we do at IBM, the design community, the design approach and ethos, I am proud to say that I am a part of a design culture that truly appreciates the meaning of innovation through diversity and inclusiveness.

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