Great organizations thrive on diversity of thought and ideas.

SACRAMENTO, CA., May 17, 2012 /JHCNewswire/ --  Stating the obvious? You’d be surprised. 

Human nature has a way of congregating like-minded individuals with similar backgrounds. 

I was reminded of this recently when speaking at music event that was explicitly targeted at encouraging students from the music business and production engineering schools to network with one another.  I wanted to get a sense of the audience at the outset and asked how many people were from the production engineering school.  The show of hands indicated that about half the students were studio engineers, but interestingly, they were almost all on the one side of the auditorium while the music business students were on the other.  There’s a strong natural pull to remain around those with whom you share similar perspectives and philosophies.  When building a company this is a pull that you must work to resist.

Assuring diversity of thought is a crucial, common sense strategy that frequently is overlooked in businesses.  This can be especially true among early-stage companies where the founders - often former colleagues with similar backgrounds – are creating the underlying foundation of the company and outlining its strategies for success.  

Successful companies create a culture in which embracing a variety of perspectives and ideas is an integral part of the business, from strategic planning to daily decision-making. Having a staff as wide as it is deep in perspective with varying backgrounds and experience enables companies to embrace a multitude of voices and, in the end, make better decisions.