Diversity

It's 1997 and after studying at RWTH Aachen University, a few years in Japan and an MBA at Cornell University, it's time to really get going. Several trips back to Germany and a few job offers later and I decide to stay in the USA.

Why? Well, the big prize was waiting in the form of a job at Bell Laboratories in Holmdel, New Jersey (see picture). At the time, Bell Labs was the world's leading industrial research organization in telecommunications. For me, as a communications engineer and product developer, it was a dream come true.

Bell Labs attracts researchers and leads them to top achievements, even Nobel Prize winners. They don't care where someone comes from, they hire whoever can advance the organization or the technology. Their own department resembles a United Nations with colleagues from Europe, Asia and the Americas. The dual leadership is a team from Colombia and Iran.
The department heads show what is important: the charismatic Colombian is the idea generator, reads several books overnight and comes to the company in the morning with lots of ideas. The methodical Iranian is the guarantor that projects, once started, are brought to a successful conclusion. Everyone is important and it wouldn't work without him.

There is a method to it: Lucent Technologies is one of those organizations that have recognized that an innovative organization benefits from a diverse workforce. So there are mandatory annual diversity training courses and the hiring and promotion practices reflect the ideal. Over a significant period of time, all of my managers up to the CEO have been female.

My own experience has shown that any perceived disadvantages of diversity are outweighed by better ideas and more balanced decision making.

Here at #Teleconnect in Dresden, we are currently thirty-five employees from eight countries. The trend towards internationality is on the rise, driven not only by the desire for diversity, but also by a shortage of skilled workers and international customers.

In product development, it is important to generate findings on the way to the manufacturing recipe. Hypotheses are formulated and interim results are produced to support or refute these hypotheses. Tests verify the development results and validate the product. This information must be provided and utilized in good time. This requires openness in communication and a team that is able to generate ideas and make fact-based decisions.

What do you think? How important is diversity in your product development?