America has an amazing ability to overcome just about any challenge facing it. We’ve mastered space travel, conquered foreign enemies, found cures for terrifying diseases and created life-changing technologies that positively impact our daily lives.
One challenge that still seems to befuddle us, however, is our ability to embrace diversity in its totality in our society. The evidence is indisputable. At a time when demographers tell us that nonwhite citizens will be the majority in this country by 2045, when the Me-Too Movement has elevated the role of women, when LGBTQ issues are more openly discussed and when some 15 percent of our population is foreign-born, we remain hesitant to embrace our diversity and the potential benefits it represents.
Nevertheless, there is powerful evidence that engaging with people with different ideas and different perspectives can boost creativity and innovation – the very things that have enabled us to achieve great things. Sociologist Ronald Burt at the University of Chicago has produced several studies that suggest organizations with more diverse sources of information consistently generate better ideas. MIT’s Sara Ellison has shown that mixed-sex and mixed-race teams can produce more creative solutions than those dominated by either men or women. Common sense tells us that diversity of thought leads to clear and better decision-making. You learn from encountering difference.
Let’s start with an elementary proposition: We’re not all alike, and we all come from different backgrounds, for all kinds of reasons. Some people feel a moral imperative to seek out inclusiveness and diversity; others strategically recognize that to move our organizations forward, we need to attract and retain people who give us the intellectual competitive advantage of ideas and proven experience. Whatever our motivations, we need to bring a diverse and inclusive sense of urgency to our workplaces, our schools and our communities because that will produce remarkable outcomes.
Allow me to suggest that the only way to bring about a truly diverse community is to demonstrate “return on diversity.” We must show that diversity drives broader thinking and greater innovation, that it brings new creative and important voices to the institution or the issue. New ideas and wide-ranging perspectives fuel creative thinking and, as a result, compel innovation.
Embracing diversity is not about checking off an affirmative-action box or believing that society somehow owes minorities some concession. It is about creating a culture where every individual is accepted and valued for his or her contributions, whether to a team, a company or society as a whole. Interestingly, our youngest generations understand this best; they tend to be more open, trusting and collaborative.
Regardless of our age or position in society, all of us need to recognize that America is becoming more diverse. We need to acknowledge the potential that diversity can bring. Difference can be unsettling, perhaps even scary at times. But it does not have to be threatening. In fact, it can be the fuel for a new era of innovation, growth and success.
The challenges we face today and the ones that lie ahead demand that we band together in a common cause, unhindered by prior bias or fears. The American melting pot has always been and will continue to be our greatest strength if we choose to accept that reality.
Dr. Benjamin Ola. Akande is assistant vice chancellor of International Programs-Africa, director of Africa Initiative and associate director of the Global Health Center at Washington University in St. Louis. He is a former president of Westminster College and served as dean at the Walker School of Business & Technology at Webster University. He has a Ph.D. in economics.