There is ample (scientific) evidence that organizations which are made up of people from diverse backgrounds and which foster a culture of vigorous dissent fare much better than those which don’t; and in pretty much every aspect — from their ability to innovate to the amount of revenue they bring in.
Sadly a lot of organizations seem to run on the principle of a cloned workforce and an inherent need for harmony. This is too bad.
As I’ve explained in an earlier post: I strongly believe in brutal intellectual honesty. You have to have the ability to argue, to rip things apart, to hear the voices from an as diverse group of people as possible — only then will you create something superior.
This is your chance to create this environment and create an organization which is a truly amazing living organism and not just a dull version of Disneyland.
Foster vigorous dissent and practice brutal intellectual honesty.
P.S. A friend of mine is putting together a neat event where investors pitch to startups (yes — you read this right). If you happen to be in Berlin and want to go: Get €60 (>45%) discount if you apply for COS Berlin (May 16th) and write “startup bootcamp” in the “referred by” field in your application. Apply here. And no — I don’t get paid for this. ;)