DrawSuccess

Diversity of Thought is a new buzzword in the business world.  But what is it – and why is it important?

Diversity Executive magazine defines Diversity of Thought as "the ways in which different individuals process circumstances."  They suggest that because "one direction leads to collaboration, the other to conflict, which is why diversity of thought can have a tangible impact on the workplace." 

We couldn't have said it better ourselves.  Each of the four personality/behavioral types – what we call Inner Genius Styles – have their own unique approach to all kinds of different business, as well as personal situations.  For example, each style acts and reacts very, very differently in the following areas:

• Decision-Making
• Change
• Sales & Customer Service
• Motivation & Commitment
• Meetings
• Stress & Conflict Resolution
• Contribution & Accountability
• Setting and achieving goals
• Creativity & Innovation
• And many more!

In fact, in just about area of life the Inner Genius Styles see and perform differently. 

The good news is all four Inner Genius Styles are needed to achieve high performance. 

The great news is that it can be very easy to learn how to identify – and then appreciate – the differences. 

And the even greater news is that the DrawSuccess Game is a great way to build unity among the more traditionally defined diverse groups (like age, gender, race, religion, nationality).  Once people realize that they have more in common with someone of the same Inner Genius Style, and that the Inner Genius Styles are equally divided among women and men, nationalities, religions, races and ages, it makes it easier to break down barriers and begin appreciating everyone for their unique contribution. 

At DrawSuccess, we integrate the four Inner Genius Styles with Tuckman's Four Stages of Team Development.  In Diversity, it is defined as follows:

• In the Forming stage, people don't know themselves or each other,
• In the Storming stage, all people can see are the areas of conflict or difference.
• In the Norming stage, people begin to understand themselves and others.
• In the Performing stage, people take this understanding to learn how to adapt themselves to work better together.

Isn't this what Diversity training is all about?  Learning how to appreciate others and adapt ourselves to work better together?