I'm really pleased that cognitive diversity is being promoted as an asset to a Board (thank you Krishna Grenville-Goble) and yet I think there are two ways that the guidance, and the practical messaging around it, could be made more real, more usable, more accurate day-to-day. @KrishnaGrenville-Goble's blog suggests: 'Cognitive diversity relates to the way people think, rather that diversity characteristics of each individual.' So far so good. The author then gives a brief list of either/or characteristics suggesting that a mix across these extremes is useful. Agreed. The list includes these three: - Risk cautious vs risk adventurous - Diplomatic vs forthright - Logical vs emotional Psychologically and practically speaking this is where things come unstuck. Firstly because people are never only one or the other: I may enjoy taking risks in sport but might be cautious with money. I might choose to be diplomatic on certain issues (perhaps because I don't care that much) but be very forthright on other matters (about which I do). Pidgeon-holing people (giving them fixed traits) is uninformative because it is both deterministic ("I couldn't help it your honour - I'm very much a RED/YELLOW/GREEN - look I've got the lego blocks to prove it") and lets us off the hook when it comes to self-monitoring and self-regulation (e.g. trying a bit harder not to lose our tempers, for example). My second point relates to the statement 'logical vs emotional' which represents a well worn false dichotomy which is disproved as soon as we apply the possibility of empathy: making the effort to grasp how someone else is feeling and therefore better understanding their position, and most importantly, their apparently aberrant behaviour. An example: A CEO becomes increasingly strident in advocating for proceeding with an R&D idea about which the Board is nervous. He stops reading the room and keeps on pitching to a Board who just aren't listening anymore. Irrational? On the face of it, yes. But if anyone cared to probe a little they might find the completely rational root of the feelings...the fact that yesterday this 'stroppy' CEO briefed his now excited head of R&D that the Board would almost certainly go for the idea. The CEO is not behaving irrationally, quite the reverse. He's quite rationally worried/embarrassed/annoyed that he's going to have to do a U-turn. When we pay attention to feelings as we pay attention to other forms of data they become completely rational, explainable and so more predictable, manageable and helpful. Diversity is indeed important but we all need to learn how to actually use it once we've got it in the room.
Krishna Grenville-Goble, Director of Inclusion, Diversity and Equity at KPMG’s Board Leadership Centre, highlights the importance of styles of thinking when considering cognitive #diversity in the boardroom. Learn more from our latest blog: https://lnkd.in/eVpbgMWD #CGIUKI #boardroom #board #ide
