diversity is…

I stumbled into a website which got me thinking about the competencies listed below. I suggest that they are essential to those needed for effectively navigating the challenges of the 21^st century workplace:

1) Systemic Thinking:                                                                                                                           

The ability to think…outside the box, and to see the inter-connectedness between seemingly disparate things in a manner that brings about change to an organisation’s structure, functions, people, culture and general ‘feeling’. Systemic thinking is about facilitating an environment where diverse perspectives lead to great insight

2) Strategic Intent:

The ability to use insight to analyse, understand, and develop simple and clear solutions that solve problems – leading to the attainment of an organisation’s strategic objectives.

3) Ethical Mindset:

The ability to navigate the ‘politics’ of the workplace as it relates to business, opinion, hierarchy and relationships, ensuring the right thing remains paramount – and is performed at all times. Continue reading →

“Companies are about to be engaged in a war for senior… talent that will remain a defining characteristic of their competitive landscape for decades to come. Yet most are ill prepared, and even the best are vulnerable” – McKinsey, 1997

Ever since the phrase “the war for talent” was first coined by McKinsey in the late 90’s, talent sourcers, recruitment consultants and all those involved in the talent acquisition process have been self-challenged to think more creatively on how to attract talent from what has become known as a limited talent pool. The 3 key reasons for this ‘war’, according to a 2011 report by the Aberdeen Group are; increasing competition in the market place for top talent, a shortage of required skills available in the labour pool, and pressure in meeting organisations growth objectives. But are these really the key reasons for this ‘war’ or are there other underlying, and often unexamined causes?

Consider this analogy to help explain the point: If you place a pencil into a glass of water, what happens? The pencil ‘appears’ bent, does it not? Indeed, our thinking will initially tell us that it is in fact bent, just like a mirage in the desert will have us believe that there is water in the near distance. However, upon further examination, and as scientific thinking later tells us, it is not the pencil that bends, but the refraction of light, as it hits the pencil at an angle that causes it to appear bent:

The way we think about talent (what it looks like, where we expect to source it from, how it should typically present itself or behave, etc), tells us that there is a war, that there is a very limited talent pool to tap from. However, upon further detailed examination of our ‘rational’ presuppositions, of our expected ‘criteria’, we may realise that it is not so much that there is a shortage of talent, but a shortage in our understanding of what talent is. The ‘war’, as McKinsey terms it, is not only about ensuring talent management is a burning board level priority, but in addition, I suggest, is even more so, about the war in our minds…in our heads! How are we to really understand 21^st century talent? Continue reading →

“The beginning of freedom is the realisation that you are not “the thinker”. The moment you start ‘watching the thinker’, a higher level of consciousness becomes activated. You then begin to realise that there is a vast realm of intelligence beyond thought, that thought is only a tiny aspect of…intelligence…that…creativity arises…from beyond the mind”

Eckhart Tolle

In our last discussions entitled ‘Diversity of thinking’, we explored the business case for workplace diversity and we suggested that the different ways we think, serve as strategic building blocks for attaining higher levels of intelligibility – an essential requirement (also known as ’intellectual capital) that keeps organisations competitive. We suggested that the argument for diversity of thought was in fact an argument for greater intelligibility, and also further suggested that the phrase ‘diversity of thinking’ had its roots within the 17^th century philosophy of Rene Descartes’, who proposed that “all human beings are essentially thinking things”.

But…let’s take a few steps backward for a moment…

Is Descartes actually right? Are all human beings essentially‘thinking things’ as he suggests? Put is it this way; is there more to the actually ‘activity’ of thinking than we know, such that it questions our ‘casual’ usage of the term ‘diversity of thought’, and which may have direct implications on creativity levels in the workplace? I argue that there is. Indeed to a large extent, I think Descartes got it wrong! Continue reading →

We have often heard the saying: “Complex problems require simple solutions”, but have we actually taken time to really think about what this statement actually means?? Does it just mean deliberately seeking out a ‘simple’ solution when we have a complex problem or does it mean something more??

‘Thought’ or the act of thinking is a fundamental characteristic or trait that typifies all human beings. We are by nature ‘thinking things’ according to Rene Descartes, the renowned 17^th century philosopher. But thinking is never done in isolation. Thinking is always derived from the sum total of each individual’s background and experiences. This is what makes it unique or different – and herein lies the central thesis of our discussion: It is diversity of thought or the different ways we think, that provides the simple solutions to some of the most complex problems we face.

Burrhus Fredric Skinner, a Professor of Psychology at Harvard University was well aware of this issue. In thinking about the different ways we think, Skinner argued that all human beings are necessarily products of their environment. For him, this is, at one and the same time, a uniqueness as well as a ’limitation’. What we know as a result of thinking, is derived from the socio-cultural, economic and political interactions each individual has within their specific environment, he argued. But it is also true to say that of all living things, human beings have the ingrained ability to constantly overcome these apparent limitations – through the effective use of rational intelligence. Continue reading →

Click on link below to see this interesting article by Joshua Price:

http://www.symmetra.com.au/latest-news

With thanks

Jude-Martin Etuka

Click on the link below to see article at:

http://www.symmetra.com.au/latest-news

With thanks

Jude-Martin Etuka

Dear Readers,

This is to advise that Diversity Is…is moving and will now have viewable content at: www.symmetra.com.au/latest-news

Question:

What do I need to do?

Answer:

Nothing. All links will eventually be sync-ed to ensure a smooth and easy transition. Just link up and read the posts of interests as you have already been doing over the past 18 months!…

Keep an eye for new posts coming soon at:

www.symmetra.com.au/latest-news

Jude-Martin Etuka