What you don’t know about diversity and teams can hurt you. Determining a way to create and keep great teams together has been a focal point of many industries. Recently, inclusion and diversity have begun to take their rightful place as a part of the conversation. But many companies and leaders nonetheless don’t understand that inclusion and diversity are an essential element in the very foundation of thriving teams.

Related: Do you have ‘unconscious bias’ in hiring and promotions?

Diversity allows teams to look at problems from a broader range of views, which is something that is very hard to do assuming your team is comprised of members who are homogeneous in their thinking. Those who are alike, think alike. However, be prepared to help those with unique and distinctive points of view. You want to avoid the propensity of group-think. Diversity merely for the sake of diversity may satisfy an agenda on paper but not in the outcomes that can give an organization competitive advantage.  The best leaders pay attention to the distinctive views and implement them.

Related: What my unconscious bias taught me about diversity

As technology continues to make the world smaller and more interconnected, companies and teams must perform while concurrently adapting and changing. It is important to keep in mind that embedding ideas that make teams not only more diverse, will create more agile and adaptive team members.

About Jim Woods

Jim Woods is president and senior consultant of Woods Kovalova Group. He is a former U.S. Navy Seabee and has been a board member to numerous organizations. For more than 25 years, he has been a coach, consultant, facilitator, and trainer to leaders and individuals who desire to transform their lives and business. Jim is happily married and grandfather to five. He has designed and taught classes on leadership mastery, cultivating presence, embodied leadership and building confidence. Jim’s corporate clients include Whirlpool, U.S. Army, and Berkshire Hathaway. Jim has also taught fifth grade math and science and been a university professor. He holds a master’s degree in organizational development and human resources.