Skip to main content
UploadLanguage (EN)Support
BusinessMobileSocial MediaMarketingTechnologyArt & PhotosCareerDesignEducationPresentations & Public SpeakingGovernment & NonprofitHealthcareInternetLawLeadership & ManagementAutomotiveEngineeringSoftwareRecruiting & HRRetailSalesServicesScienceSmall Business & EntrepreneurshipFoodEnvironmentEconomy & FinanceData & AnalyticsInvestor RelationsSportsSpiritualNews & PoliticsTravelSelf ImprovementReal EstateEntertainment & HumorHealth & MedicineDevices & HardwareLifestyle
Rakhi Rajani, CPsychol, profile picture
Uploaded byRakhi Rajani, CPsychol
266 views

Creating Cognitively Diverse Teams

The document discusses the importance of creating cognitively diverse teams to address complex problems in an evolving technological landscape. It emphasizes the need for new mindsets, leadership styles, and collaborative approaches to innovation as humans adapt to rapid changes. Key topics include the integration of technology and human interaction, the challenges of diverse problem-solving, and strategies for fostering an inclusive culture that encourages exploration and shared intelligence.

Leadership & Management◦
Related topics:
product-management• Talent Management•
Creating Cognitively Diverse Teams Rakhi Rajani (@rakhi) MTP Engage, Manchester 2020
• The types of problems we will tackle tomorrow • The mindsets we need to tackle them • The leadership styles that will encourage change Let’s talk about… Rakhi Rajani
Working in a world of new things Inventing means sitting at the intersections and being comfortable with uncertainty Human Behavior Invention, Science Industry Shifts white space Rakhi Rajani
The industrial revolution(s) challenge history • Open banking • Disintermediated banks • Can anyone be a bank • Commercial space travel • New business drivers • Who owns the moon • Autonomous driving • Who do you trust • What is intelligence Blending tech, new social norms, legal, environmental, economic, political and infrastructural shifts Rakhi Rajani
Change has shifted HOW humans do things • Brain structures changed • Can’t process long form content • Learning shifts • Alone together • Change in social skills • No down time • Data driven lifestyles • Tech + People • Augmented skills As people we have changed; we think, process information, respond and emote differently Rakhi Rajani
The problems we are facing, The solutions we need to create, The opportunities to make a difference are… Bigger and bolder than ever before. We are at an inflection point Rakhi Rajani
Rakhi Rajani Unknown possibilities & constraints challenge everything we know • So we got to Mars, now what? • What are the components of a new civilisation? • What infrastructure should we build? • How could people live and interact? • What kind of economy could we enable? • What does it mean to be healthy? • What industries can we mobilise to build the foundations? Humans naturally transfer what they know to other contexts but here we could start from scratch
The situations we have created need a diversity of mindset to shift what & how we do next • How do we bring the art and science of problem solving together? • How do we ‘design’ new beliefs? • What might we create to counter the shift? • What data will help us create a new future and how do we ensure it is not biased? • How might we intervene intelligently? Rakhi Rajani People place too much emphasis on known disciplines vs the perspectives that can participate or change our approach
• The types of problems we will tackle tomorrow • The mindsets we need to tackle them • The leadership styles that will encourage change Let’s talk about… Rakhi Rajani
Different mindsets for different levels of innovation The mental models and behaviours required for uncertain problems are more holistic Rakhi Rajani
Working at the intersections Working in-between disciplines and knowledge _______ // _______ // _______ // _______ // _______ Rakhi Rajani
Artifacts EnvironmentPeople Structures Profit + LossThinking From diversity to the new normal? Cognitive diversity is invisible, it’s mental processing Rakhi Rajani
We gravitate towards fit because conflict is uncomfortable People are more comfortable surrounding themselves with themselves vs Rakhi Rajani
Disciplinary Boundaries Artifacts EnvironmentPeople Disciplinary Hierarchy Structures Profit + LossThinking Blockers to diverse problem solving + We impose constraints on peoples abilities based on what we know vs what they can do Rakhi Rajani
Cognition is distributed and coalesces to create diversity of brainpower and perspectives Artifacts EnvironmentPeople Cognition is siloed Structures Profit + LossThinking Distributed Cognition Truly collaborative problem solving is shared but is not rooted in consensus Rakhi Rajani
From 0 – 120 in 18 months Hiring at pace means you make mistakes – define rituals that make up your cultural o/s Be deliberate and opportunistic in the mindsets you need - storytellers, magicians, naysayers, fighters, dreamers, reflectors, rapid decision makers, questioners CV’s and interviews tell you what you want you to hear – throw a curveball People look to each other for cues and the loud cues win - create a first team to model behaviours Sharing an example Learnings from a fast paced experience Rakhi Rajani
From 0 – 120 in 18 months Hiring at pace means you make mistakes – define rituals that make up your cultural o/s Be deliberate and opportunistic in the mindsets you need - storytellers, magicians, naysayers, fighters, dreamers, reflectors, rapid decision makers, questioners CV’s and interviews tell you what you want you to hear – throw a curveball People look to each other for cues and the loud cues win - create a first team to model behaviours Sharing an example Learnings from a fast paced experience Rakhi Rajani
From 0 – 120 in 18 months Hiring at pace means you make mistakes – define rituals that make up your cultural o/s Be deliberate and opportunistic in the mindsets you need - storytellers, magicians, naysayers, fighters, dreamers, reflectors, rapid decision makers, questioners CV’s and interviews tell you what you want you to hear – throw a curveball People look to each other for cues and the loud cues win - create a first team to model behaviours Sharing an example Learnings from a fast paced experience Rakhi Rajani
From 0 – 120 in 18 months Hiring at pace means you make mistakes – define rituals that make up your cultural o/s Be deliberate and opportunistic in the mindsets you need - storytellers, magicians, naysayers, fighters, dreamers, reflectors, rapid decision makers, questioners CV’s and interviews tell you what you want you to hear – throw a curveball People look to each other for cues and the loud cues win - create a first team to model behaviours Sharing an example Learnings from a fast paced experience Rakhi Rajani
• The types of problems we will tackle tomorrow • The mindsets we need to tackle them • The leadership styles that will encourage change Let’s talk about… Rakhi Rajani
We are asking leaders to guide new problem spaces and define new worlds • How do we create a world where robots and humans work together? • How do we leverage emerging tech and fuse it with a human touch? • How do we build Collaborative Intelligence that combines empathy with automation? • How do we break down human/machine boundaries to create shared experiences? Many of these situations involve challenging boundaries and inherent social norms
Leading for the unknown • Leave disciplinary baggage at the door • Know that titles convey ‘spikes’, they don’t limit impact • Remove functional bias • Cherish the people who disagree, don’t hire ’another John’ • Make space (and curb pace) for exploration • Recognise that diverse teams need to find their own language and rituals Lessons learned Rakhi Rajani
Thank you @rakhi