The Creative Collective

Managers tend to favor employees for whom they have a natural affinity. In other words, we often have a positive bias toward people that we perceive to be “like us”. When we can overcome that bias, we build stronger teams by incorporating diversity into their makeup. Your strengths may make up for my weaknesses. Sharing my experience with you will make you a more complete professional. When I am out of ideas, I will be grateful for your burst of creativity. We should all strive for the push and pull, the give and take of a diverse team.

Diversity comes in many forms. It may be as a result of education – for example, a degree in Engineering versus Music. Each generation has a markedly different perspective. Where people were raised – North, South, East, West, or outside the U.S. - introduces a broad range of cultural customs, which can be made more complex by ethnicity. Every personality is different. Diversity is the spice of life, and necessary to move our endeavors forward.

If we all thought and behaved the same way…well, it’s hard to even imagine. We might continue on with the status quo in ad finitum. Blah.

Embrace the differences inherent in your team. Make sure that you are capitalizing on them. Understand where everyone is coming from.  Listen to “crazy” ideas. Try something new. Color outside the lines. Surprise and challenge each other, and do the kinds of things that can only be accomplished via a creative collective. Not only will you be more successful; you will have more fun.