The Power of Diversity

Scott Page published a powerful book in 2007 that deserves a lot more attention than it got. The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools and Societies. Scott talked about his ideas at the Thought Leader Forum in 2004. I ate 'em up.

Here is the transcript of his talk, along with some of our real-time illustrations.

First off, his definition of "diversity" has nothing to do with class, race or gender. He cares about "cognitive diversity" -- the mental toolbox that we use to solve our problems. The fun thing about mental tools is that they are combinatorial -- you can use models and methods you learned in algebra and combine them with stuff you learned playing soccer, and you will look at problems in a completely unique way. What Scott found in his research is that teams of people with diverse backgrounds, experiences and yes, IQ's will outperform teams of (literally) rocket scientists on solving complex problems. The scientists are all trained to approach problems in the same way, while the plumbers, gardeners and assistants all look at problems differently.



How can we tap into The Difference at conferences? Most meetings are training grounds for conformity -- abide by the dress code, stick to the agenda, sit quiet and listen, and networrrrrrrrk NOW! We go to meetings to get stimulated. Lots of corporate meetings (at least) are organized to get people "aligned". How can we leverage diversity, and not squash it because it's inconvenient?

Wisdom of Crowds

Based on my Many-to-Many post a few days ago, invoking "the wisdom of crowds" feels a little bit obvious. But I've had the pleasure to engage with Jim Surowiecki several times over the last few years -- at Michael Mauboussin's Thought Leader Forum, and once at the Santa Fe Institute -- and his ideas merit repetition. And if a speaker at a conference I've worked at happens to support my vision for the future of conferences, all the better!


You've heard the concept by now that "the Many" can be smarter than the Few, even if the Few have higher IQ's. Jim puts several important qualifiers on situations that make this actually hold true. This is an overview of the Wisdom of Crowds theory that he gave in 2004.

So when is the crowd smarter? The crowd must include a diversity of perspectives. The members of the crowd must think independently. And there must be some way of aggregating the independent, diverse opinions of the group.

As you might imagine, conferences tend to fail this test on all fronts. Speakers convey "one message", and attendees are quizzed to see if they "got the message". Conferences ask attendees to ingest and comply, not think independently. And conferences hardly ask people for their opinions, must less aggregate them into something meaningful and creative.

Crowds can be diverse, creative and powerful. Conferences can too!