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Information and Diversity

March 24, 2006 from The Practical PM

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As information flows, people become more comfortable. They understand their environment better. Even bad information with a confidence level can make a person feel more secure in their risk-reward ratio, and respond appropriately. Among those lines, there is a trend I've noticed.

 

When information flows freely and there is little change, people tend to gather in more diverse groups. People from very different backgrounds can feel comfortable sharing their perspectives. They fear not the judgment others may place on them by their enthusiasm or skepticism of unique ideas. People are more comfortable proposing challenging goals, and endeavor hard to exceed expectations, sometimes just to see if they can.

 

When information flows poorly, and there is much change, an opposite effect occurs. People tend to gather in more relational groups. It is such an effective metric that when I interview with companies, I look closely at whether those gathered together chatting in hallways are seemingly diverse or closely knit. Sometimes I'll see complete diversity, and it inspires a free thought atmosphere. Sometimes I'll see small groups of related people gathering, as though artificially grouped by a educational, political, or ethnic background.

 

At one company, upon joining, I was inspired and in awe of the immense diversity, and the ability for others to listen closely to the most foreign of ideas...and not only absorb those ideas, but relate them to others. After many re-orgs, new processes, and a lack of information flow, I was stunned only 8 months later to walk in one day and see Asians talking to Asians, Indians talking to Indians, Midwest Americans talking to Midwest Americans, and a untold few who silently never feared the unknown, walking around in isolation and confusion, intermixed with uncertainty, roaming among the hallways.

 

It's a very important metric that tells you the level of confidence people have. And confidence is the one criteria that makes people excel in a competitive world… Without confidence, people cluster among family looking for sure things and handouts. With confidence, people reach out to new communities to grow themselves and their reach.

This article is syndicated from The Practical PM . The original article is available here. Read more in Project Management News, The Practical PM .

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