Things That Work / Diversity

 

Matheus Vianna

Reaching Our Full Potential

As I grow older I've grown to appreciate diversity and understand it's value. Most people in my age group seem to have gone the other way. It seems as we grow older we seek out the familiar and shun diversity. It is possible I'm wrong about this, but there is support for my supposition. In an article published by Psychology Today, "Why Are People Older More Conservative," Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic Ph.D. explains why people become more right-wing, authoritarian and rigid as they age. There are three factors:

Personality - intellectual curiosity tends to decline in old age

Judgement - Our ability to process information declines as we get older. "Older people are also more likely to make categorical judgments about events, things, or people. This often involves acting in more prejudiced ways – to pre-judge means to judge before really judging – because in older ages preserving old knowledge is more important than acquiring new knowledge.

Familiarity - Dealing with the familiar is so much easier than dealing with something new and seemingly unusual. 

Diversity generates change, and that's a good thing.

Greater Good Magazine says diversity makes us smarter. 

Being around people who are different from us makes us more creative, diligent, and hard-working.

• Diversity provokes thinking.
• Diversity leads to change, for the better.
• Diversity creates growth.
• Diversity leads to a more inclusive society. People become valued for their ideas.
• Diversity leads to increased adaptability in a changing market.
• Diversity prompt us to work harder.

Diversity requires us to get out of our bubbles. We tend to reinforce our opnions by insulating ourselves with ourselves. If everybody around me thinks like me, there's no motivation for change, there's no motivation for progress.

"This is how diversity works: by promoting hard work and creativity; by encouraging the consideration of alternatives even before any interpersonal interaction takes place. The pain associated with diversity can be thought of as the pain of exercise. You have to push yourself to grow your muscles. The pain, as the old saw goes, produces the gain. In just the same way, we need diversity—in teams, organizations, and society as a whole—if we are to change, grow, and innovate." Greatergood.berkley.edu

Embrace the change. I'm convinced it is the only way forward.

“It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.” – Maya Angelou