Economist Scott Page has recently peened a book that, while difficult to get through for non-economists, is something that should be on supplier diversity professionals'' bookshelves. The book, The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies explains with the use of mathematical models and "heuristics" why diversity trumps ability when it comes to decisions made by and for groups. Page is careful not to say that a diverse untrained group is better than a trained non-diverse group, but he is very unequivocal by saying quality diverse groups produce better results than non-diverse groups. The reason why he comes to this conclusion has to do primarily with how trained individuals from different backgrounds, experiences, and races approach problems from different perspectives; or what he calls cognitive diversity. This message is relevant for corporations pursuing a policy of supplier diversity. Page has given a powerful rationale for supplier diversity. MBEs have the potential to improve performance in sales, production, product development and other areas of corporate performance by providing corporate clients their sometimes unique perspectives based on their differences not their similarities to non-MBEs. The business case for supplier diversity is much stronger when difference is viewed as an asset not a liability. Smart corporations who embrace diversity of thought will be stronger, more competitive and more successful.
July 6, 2010
