After recently describing my work with organisations including diversity, I was asked: “Isn’t that a bit out of date nowadays?”
Followed by the assertion: “I have always found well-led homogenous teams to be better than badly-led heterogenous teams.”
You might have already guessed that my conversation partner was a person presenting as male in their mid-fifties. I can assure you that, in my view unfortunately, they were. Why do I say unfortunately? Because there are definitely times when I find it unfortunate when people conform to a current stereotypical depiction of a particular type so accurately.
But enough of that. Let’s spend some time unpacking the statements. Then we will look at why, scientifically and practically speaking, they are complete nonsense, even if they are this person’s beliefs. “Isn’t that a bit out of date nowadays?” implies that diverse teams do not reflect the present and future of organisations.
While there may still be niches in some businesses with teams of one gender, one cultural influence, one type of education only, etc… reality and the trends show otherwise.
The German workforce traditionally has been and is still more homogenous than that of other similar economies. With the workforce changing rapidly there is a clear trend in research and in organisations to more diversity in terms of ethnicity, gender and cultural background. At the same time there are some political trends trying to displace words like ‘diversity’ from business initiatives, choosing to focus on one perspective.
The reality is that diversity is there and in many places growing, with people from many different backgrounds bringing their unique skills and points-of-view to the table.
While some may choose not to focus on it, it is a reality organisations can decide to deal with to prepare better for the future. Why do I say organisations dealing with diversity are better prepared for the future? Because heterogeneous teams, teams with diversity have been shown many, many times to bring more to the table than homogeneous ones.
To explore the statement made above: It may reflect the lived reality of that one person. However it included a confounding factor influencing the team – the leadership. By combining good leadership with the condition of homogeneous teams and the bad leadership with heterogeneous teams, the conclusion is not based on the make-up of the team.
Scientific research has robustly shown diverse teams to outperform homogeneous ones.
This is a fact. Studies in organisational psychology and business management demonstrate that diversity increases innovation, problem-solving and financial performance.
Here are just a few examples of scientific studies that show how diversity gives organisations an edge.
- In 2015 McKinsey reported that the top 25% of businesses in terms of racial and ethnic diversity would have financial returns 35% higher than their national industry median.
- A follow-up study by McKinsey in 2023 reinforced their findings on diversity by demonstrating that diverse leadership is associated with holistic growth, employee satisfaction and greater social impact.
- A 2018 Harvard Business Review analysis showed that diverse teams are better at identifying new markets and generating novel ideas. Varied perspectives in these teams challenge groupthink and encourage critical evaluation of assumptions.
- Neuroscientific research goes deeper here and explains how diverse teams activate a wider range of neural pathways, leading to more comprehensive information processing.
- Research published in the Scientific American in 2014 and 2025 demonstrated teams with people from different backgrounds are more effective at solving complex problems. They do this by bringing a broader array of knowledge and approaches to the table then homogenous teams.
- The University of Michigan showed in 2019 that diverse teams are more accurate in their decision-making as they consider a wider range of evidence. This makes them less prone to bias.
I could go on and on. These sources offer great indications and give a better idea of what diversity can do. They do not cover all continents, cultures and countries by any stretch of the imagination. In the interest of some brevity, they do give a clear indication:
Research and evidence show that diversity is a key factor for organisations driving better performance, results and innovation.
In an ever increasingly complex world, who would not want that?
Going back to the two statements quoted earlier on, I suppose one can consider diversity as out-of-fashion. As a business coach, based on the above evidence alone, and on my experience, I would always advise my customers to take diversity into account.
The choice here for organisations is between potentially being labeled out-of-fashion for securing a sustainable future with diversity, and conforming to political trends by focussing on the traditional homogeneous team perspective.
What would you choose?
If you want to discuss how you can support and drive diversity in your business and organisation, get in touch. I cover leadership and diversity very regularly with my clients. I look forward to hearing from you.
References
McKinsey: Why Diversity Matters (2015)
McKinsey: Diversity Matters Even More (2023)
HBR: How and Where Diversity Drives Financial Performance (2018)
University of Michigan Library: Diversity and Innovation Research (2013)
Scientific American: How Diversity Makes Us Smarter (2024, 2025)
Forbes: How Diverse Teams Produce Better Outcomes (2019)
