Dial In Diversity

Written By Jeremy Utley

To better understand collaborative dynamics, researchers at Stanford and Berkeley Hass studied hundreds of thousands of Slack messages. They “found that more successful teams modulated their cognitive diversity to fit the task at hand.”

Imagine that: modulating diversity of perspectives. Treating diversity as a strategic lever.

In my experience working with organizations, very few teams see diversity of perspectives as a dial they can turn to drive desired outcomes. “Team” is more of a fixed concept than a fluid one. And yet, especially when seeking to generate possibilities, the biggest need is actually to deliberately dial up cognitive diversity.

The default objective of a team is convergence — make decisions — and as a result, the default behaviors of convergent mode become the norm.

Generating becomes an exceptional — or rare — activity, a rare objective and a rare behavior set. The tendency is to approach the process of idea generating in the same way, with the same people. Inviting diverse perspectives can be an explicit marker to all contributors: the purpose of this meeting is different.

What a way to set the frame!

Related: Look for What’s Right
Related: Set The Frame

Join over 7,847 creators & leaders who read Paint & Pipette each week

Featured
Malpractice
Malpractice

Last email: did AI help? Last presentation: did you get AI feedback? Last difficult conversation: did you practice with AI first? If you're answering "no" to most of these, you're not behind on AI adoption. You're committing professional negligence.

The Recursive Loop: How Sharing Creates What's Worth Sharing
The Recursive Loop: How Sharing Creates What's Worth Sharing

Most teams think they need more AI training. What they actually need is a loop: a reason to share, experiment, and learn in public. Here’s how to build that culture—one commitment at a time.

Update Your Priors
Update Your Priors

If the MIT study of AI failure rates surprised you, you need to update your priors. Innovation is about shots on goal, not perfect plans. Time to recalibrate how many attempts you’re making.

Admit You Don't Know: Reverse Mentorship With An AI Sherpa
Admit You Don't Know: Reverse Mentorship With An AI Sherpa

Most leaders think credibility comes from having all the answers. In the AI era, it's the opposite—credibility comes from admitting you don't know and doing something about it. Here's how to become the kind of leader who can actually drive organizational change instead of just demanding it.

Be the Prompt: The One Thing AI Will Never Do (And Why That's Your Competitive Advantage)
Be the Prompt: The One Thing AI Will Never Do (And Why That's Your Competitive Advantage)

AI can do almost anything you ask—faster and better than you imagined. But it will never do the one thing that makes you irreplaceable. Here, I share how a piece of career-saving advice from my dad, a billion-dollar insight from Sam Altman, and lessons from leaders like Meta’s Josh To reveal the skill that keeps you indispensable in an “agentic” era.

Stop Operating, Start Orchestrating: Why Innovation is Now a Parallel Process
Stop Operating, Start Orchestrating: Why Innovation is Now a Parallel Process

Cleverly deploying AI is not merely speeding up innovation—it's unlocking a fundamentally different relationship with the creative process. Here’s how to shift from operation, to orchestration.

Don’t Be Fred! 8 Bad Habits to Lose in 2025
Don’t Be Fred! 8 Bad Habits to Lose in 2025

You know that moment when someone tells a story so perfectly out-of-step with the times that you laugh—then realize you're guilty of your own version? That's exactly what happened when Brice Challamel, Head of AI at Moderna, shared the origin of their company AI transformation mantra, "Don't be Fred".

What's Your Question? The Missing Skill That's Killing Innovation
What's Your Question? The Missing Skill That's Killing Innovation

Most organizations don’t fail at AI because of the tech. They fail because leaders reward critique over curiosity. Here’s how to flip the script before your next breakthrough dies in the room.

Hire Yourself
Hire Yourself

Much ink has been spilled about the plight of college graduates. Because of all the hand-wringing about entry-level positions disappearing and AI automation stealing opportunities, no one is saying the quiet part out loud:

No one wanted a "job" to begin with. In that sense, there's never been a better time to enter the job market.

From Efficiency to Impossibility: How the Trail Blazers Prove AI Creates Value, Not Just Captures It
From Efficiency to Impossibility: How the Trail Blazers Prove AI Creates Value, Not Just Captures It

Most companies get AI adoption wrong because they're trapped in "value capture" mode. Efficiency plays might deliver measurable ROI, but they’re essentially defensive moves, and defense alone doesn't put enough points on the board to win. The real competitive advantage comes from "value creation."

Jeremy Utley
Previous

Audit Your Collaborator Portfolio

Next

Leverage Spare Time