Diversity or Discrimination?

February 03 2019
By: Terry L. Mathis

Many senior executives I advise tell me how diversity makes their organization stronger. In some cases that is absolutely true, but those are the exception and not the rule. Diversity potentially produces a larger selection of options but not necessarily better solutions. Many of my clients are companies formed through multiple acquisitions. Each acquired organization is viewed as a source of diversity, but is more often a source of discrimination. One organization has more holidays, higher pay, more advancement opportunities, more participative managers, and the other organizations are jealous.

Whether it is a diversity of opinions or of cultures, the strength is not in the number of differences but in the sum of the parts. Great organizations have a vision and a rally cry that encapsulates all the sub-cultures and micro-climates. It recognizes differences of tactics but creates unity of strategy. Organizations that do not do this unifying risk being torn apart from within.