The Power of Cognitive Diversity
May 2024
Until September 11, 2001, the name Osama Bin Laden was not given much attention. Indeed, to the CIA’s highly educated, white, male, Protestant staff, he was just a bearded guy living in a cave. But to some others, his clothing, posturing and surroundings suggested the bearing of a prophet. And since the CIA didn’t employ or take data from those unlike themselves, they missed the message entirely. The point being, that due to their blinkered collective outlook, they missed what was, to others, there in plain sight.
It is a truism that generally you get more intelligent decisions when people work as a group. But the makeup of that group is equally important. Homogeneous groups tend to think the same and overlook their own biases. Groups that consist of people with different ways of seeing and analyzing a problem tend to produce outcomes that are more successful.
Matthew Syed, a British author, explored this notion in his 2019 book Rebel Ideas: The Power of Diverse Thinking. Syed maintains that individual brainpower isn’t enough: Tackling consequential problems is more successful when you combine people who think differently, too. He calls this approach Cognitive Diversity, and it’s an idea that caused Endurance28’s Managing Partner, Consuelo Valverde, to re-examine her notions about diversity and decision-making.
“Most people refer to diversity in terms of demographics, largely through the lens of gender and ethnicity, but that’s quite limiting,” Consuelo says. “We should think about people who have different thinking styles, different perspectives and different insights.”
Even organizations committed to diversity can demonstrate a lack of diversity. “I see tunnel vision in many of these groups,” Consuelo says, citing organizations she knows that were formed to bolster ethnic or gender groups, but often end up missing Cognitive Diversity — that is, variance in perspective, insights, experiences and thinking styles. “It’s a very narrow way of looking at the world and how we’re going to solve very complex problems,” she observes. “We need to do it together. We need that diversity, as – unlike what many seem to want – there are no simple answers to complex issues.”
Groups that consist of people with different ways of analyzing a problem tend to produce outcomes that are more successful.
Cognitive Diversity doesn’t require any kind of testing; it’s just another piece of the puzzle to consider when forming teams or confronting problems, Consuelo says. “With simple problems, it’s not that important,” she notes. “But as problems get more complex, Cognitive Diversity matters more.”
Since reading the book, Consuelo has tried to put its premise into practice. “I’m the Managing Partner, and sometimes I’m very passionate about ideas. Who’s going to say no?” she remarks with a laugh. “Now I try not to be the first one with an idea.” Or she has team members submit suggestions anonymously, then asks the group to vote on them. “If people rank them without knowing who suggested them, you get a very different result,” she says.
Above all, Consuelo tries to foster an environment where dissent is not just allowed, but encouraged. This was particularly important when she proposed changing the company’s name to Endurance28. She tried to temper her enthusiasm for the proposal, and made sure everyone’s voice was heard. “I like to think that the team knows that there is no right answer — that it’s a process that all of us play a part in.”