Do Your Teams Have Cognitive Diversity? 6 Tips

Team success requires many elements including cognitive diversity, differences in the way people think, which can help you build a group of high performance professionals.  For example, left-brain thinkers approach problems logically or analytically while right-brainers are typically creative and intuitive. If a balance of both left and right-brained employees can help a company drive success, what tips can help leaders develop cognitive diverse teams?

Rich Karlgaard and Michael S. Malone, authors of the book Team Genius, believe it is important to consider innovative ways to harness the diversity of both left-brain and right-brain thinkers.  They share six tips for building high performance groups and encourage leaders to explore diverse teams in the workplace.

Building Cognitive Diverse Teams | 6 Tips   

1. Establish ground rules for working together
2. Know each team’s strengths and weaknesses
3. Figure out how leadership styles might inhibit creativity
4. Set goals based on your most crucial priority
5. Help team members acknowledge their different styles
6. Set up systems to support your employees so they can learn more from each other

Diverse teams have a greater chance of success but they require careful leadership due to their greater potential for friction. Leaders must manage teams actively rather than simply promoting a team member to a leadership role.  Guide the process, mentor your employees, and watch the ideas (and productivity) benefits unfold.

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