How diverse is the area around you?
Today sharing some thoughts around diversity as some recent experiences have made this top of mind for me once again.
Being aware of the diversity of your environment
For most of my working life, I lived in Cayman, a small country (only 32,000 people when I moved in 1989, now around 70,000). However, despite being so small, it has always been radically diverse, with well over 100 nationalities living and working there. As a result, a really high proportion of Caymanians under forty in the workplace have parents from different countries, so they have lived their whole lives immersed in an immensely diverse environment.
When I moved to London in 2017, though still a really diverse global city, I often found myself in rooms where the lack of diversity was quite pronounced to me. This could take lots of different forms, from gender, age, class, income, education, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation and more.
As I became more and more aware of how easily I could find this happening, I started to really pay attention to what networks, groups, and events I would join or attend. As one example, I was invited into a business golf network which, on the surface, seemed great. I love golf, love business. However, when I looked at their membership on their app they were well over 95% men. I decided to decline the offer to join.
My decision to be highly conscious of diversity is both on principle and from the simple position that I like diversity. I enjoy meeting people so much more when there is a wide diversity amongst any group. Linked to this, I moved a few years ago to the edge of London, but consciously to an area that is highly diverse. I love it. However, if I had moved just a few miles further I know I would have become bored with the sameness of the demographics.
So, these are some musings, but let me give one major caveat.
Diversity of Thought can come from anyone, anywhere
Recently I was at an event that felt pretty non-diverse to me. A room full of brilliant people, but also typically with the privilege of education, access to networks, and access to capital. Access where it matters.
One person I met was, on the surface, all of that. Upper-class accent, glamorous, and building a business selling a feel-good product to wealthy people. As they told me about their business, I imagined that I could not hide my apathy towards their business and who it would serve. I could have said nothing, but instead, I apologised for my initial disinterest and briefly explained why.
Well, I am glad I did, as they rose to my challenge and this sparked a very real conversation within which I learned a lot about this individual. Suffice to say I had pre-judged them. As we wrapped up our conversation, I thanked them for sharing and also apologised for judging a book by the cover.
In judging the book by the cover, I could easily have denied both of us the opportunity to have what turned out to be a sparkling conversation, and one in which I learned much about and from that individual.
Oh, and going back to Cayman. Whilst there is huge diversity in nationality and ethnicity in Cayman, one concern I have as a Caymanian is that there is a real tendency for groupthink around core issues facing the country at a strategic level, ie a lack of diversity of thought.
Diversity of background is absolutely critical for any fair, just and vibrant society, and diversity of thought is equally so.