New Research Puts a Spin on Innovation

Last night I was at the launch of new research findings from the Center for Talent Innovation spearheaded by Sylvia Ann Hewlett.

I am so impressed by the cutting edge research undertaken from the Center. They put "language" to what many of us know, but can now describe in concrete terms.Sylvia and her team talked about the difference between inherent diversity and acquired diversity.  It is not enough to have diverse teams--these teams can acquire added dimensions that make the difference and allow innovation to flourish.  Acquired diversity consists of cultural fluency, generational savvy, gender smarts, social media skills, cross-functional knowledge, global mindset, military experience, language skills.

There was a panel of diversity leaders who gave concrete examples of what is working and why.

                                    
                          Left to right: Moderator Rehema Ellis (NBC News), Lisa Garcia Quiroz (Time Warner),
                                                        Melmuth Ludwig (Siemens), Anne Erni (Bloomberg)
                                              

I left inspired.  Keep up the good work!