Diversity leads to greater ideas
It leads to collaboration among people with different cultural and life backgrounds, allowing better perspectives when tackling certain problems
But the issue is that humans are inherently afraid of diversity
We would rather talk to and spend time with people who are like us
Diversity leads to more conflict because it inherently means discussion with people who have different views than you
But this conflict, again, can lead to more intellectual debate, and help us avoid groupthink or conformist behaviors.
The key here is to understand that diversity is not easy. It does often have tension. Don’t resist it. Don’t challenge it.
Embrace the conflict. Embrace the dialogue.
If every member of the group understands that this conflict is not malignant, and is in fact due to a common desire for achievement, then we can all better embrace diversity and conflict caused by it. (See Ray Dalio’s “Principles” book where he discusses how he built a multi-billion dollar hedge fund based on diversity and embracing conflict and radical transparency)
Although we may fear being in a group where everyone is different, understand that this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, diversity is essential for this globalizing world if we wish to challenge the Earth’s biggest issues.
The powerful benefits of diversity should be stronger than your fear of talking to someone who is ethnically and superficially different from you.
Thoughts?
Jeff Wang Blog 
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