Recruiting? Random selection can help you tap into diversity dividend

The logic of generating a diversity bonus – the way organizations can improve performance by harnessing the power of differences in the way people think – seems straightforward, but can be difficult to put into practice. Organizations facing complex problems tend to put a misplaced belief in meritocracy – hiring the “best”. If a complex problem is like a jigsaw puzzle, the “best” may provide more pieces but unlikely all of them, because the “best” tend to be good in a homogeneous way. In addition, organizations tend to mistake identity diversity for cognitive diversity. Recruiting a demographically diverse team does not necessarily generate non-overlapping cognitive repertoires, which are essential to generating a diversity bonus. These biases imply that a performance bonus from recruiting a diverse workforce may exist as potential but can often be left unexploited. 

My research shows that random selection is an undervalued tool for overcoming several barriers to…