Cognitive Diversity - the diversity we have been looking for

thinkinG diFFerently:
the imPortAnce oF diversity

Some of the most compelling research in recent years has looked at the importance of cognitive diversity—bringing together people who think differently than each other. Professor Scott E. Page of the University of Michigan has identified four “frameworks” for cognitive diversity:

▶ Diverse perspectives – ways of representing the world
▶ Diverse interpretations – ways of creating categories
▶ Diverse heuristics – techniques and tools for making improvements
▶ Diverse predictive models – inferences about correlation and cause and effect 

Through a rigorous logic exercise, Page demonstrates that diverse groups get better outcomes than homogeneous ones.  The implications for complex project teams are clear—in a world where knowledge is the only competitive advantage, cognitive diversity is critical for bringing the best ideas to the table. This insight suggests that the trend toward employing global, distributed teams to tackle complex projects—as we’ve seen with the International Space Station, the Large Hadron Collider, and the ITER nuclear fusion reactor, among others—will only increase in the years to come. We don’t collaborate solely in the interest of sharing financial burdens; we also work together because there is strength in the diversity of talent. 

From: NASA's Journey to Project Management Excellence