Short answer
Actively cultivate inclusive and supportive team environments to ensure that diverse perspectives translate into innovative design outcomes.
- Field
- Innovation & Design
- Source
- European Journal of Innovation Management (2020)
- Method
- Cross-sectional survey research
- Sample
- 584 participants
- Evidence
- Moderate effect
Visible diversity in teams can hinder innovative work behavior, but this negative effect is mitigated by fostering inclusive team or entrepreneurial climates. This innovation & design research insight is drawn from a 2020 study published in European Journal of Innovation Management. Using Cross-sectional survey research with 584 participants, researchers explored how this design variable affects real-world outcomes. The key design takeaway: Actively cultivate inclusive and supportive team environments to ensure that diverse perspectives translate into innovative design outcomes.
Diverse Teams Drive Innovation When Supported by Inclusive Climates
Visible diversity in teams can hinder innovative work behavior, but this negative effect is mitigated by fostering inclusive team or entrepreneurial climates.
European Journal of Innovation Management · 2020
Key Findings
- 01Cognitive group diversity mediates the negative relationship between visible dissimilarity and innovative work behavior.
- 02Innovative/entrepreneurial and team/clan climates moderate the relationship between visible dissimilarity and cognitive group diversity, reducing the negative impact of visible dissimilarity on innovative work behavior.
Application
Design takeaway
Actively cultivate inclusive and supportive team environments to ensure that diverse perspectives translate into innovative design outcomes.
How to apply
When leading or participating in design projects, consciously promote an environment where all team members feel safe to share their unique perspectives, and actively seek out diverse cognitive approaches.
Project actions
- 01When forming your design team, think about how different backgrounds and ways of thinking can contribute.
- 02Consider how you will create a team environment that encourages everyone to share their ideas freely, especially in your project documentation.
Method & Evidence
Variables
Strengths & Limitations
Strengths
- +Cross-cultural perspective
- +Empirical examination of multiple diversity types and climates
Limitations
It can be challenging to objectively measure 'cognitive diversity' or 'team climate' in a practical design project setting.
Reliability & validity
The study's reliability could be enhanced by using multiple measures for diversity and climate, and its validity by employing longitudinal data collection to observe changes over time.
Think critically
To what extent can a designer actively 'create' a team climate, and what are the ethical considerations when trying to influence team dynamics for innovation?
Design Principles
"Foster inclusive climates to leverage the innovative potential of diverse teams."
Design projects, especially those involving teams, benefit from understanding how to harness the potential of diverse perspectives. Creating an environment that values and integrates different viewpoints is crucial for unlocking creativity and driving novel solutions.
What This Means for Your Design
If you have a team with people who look different, it might sometimes make innovation harder, but if people think differently and the team culture is supportive and encourages new ideas, then the differences can actually help innovation.
How to use in your project
- 1.Reference this study when discussing how team diversity and collaborative environments can impact the ideation and development phases of your design project.
Add to My Project
Quick Cite
Paragraph starter
Research indicates that while visible diversity within a team can sometimes present challenges to innovative work behavior, this effect can be significantly mitigated by fostering inclusive team climates and encouraging cognitive diversity. Therefore, in the development of this design project, attention was paid to creating an environment that supported open idea sharing and valued varied perspectives, aiming to harness the full innovative potential of the team.
Source
European Journal of Innovation Management
Diversity, climate and innovative work behavior
journal · 2020
View sourceQuestions About This Research
- What does the research say about diverse teams drive innovation when supported by inclusive climates?
- Actively cultivate inclusive and supportive team environments to ensure that diverse perspectives translate into innovative design outcomes. Evidence: European Journal of Innovation Management (2020).
- Why does "Diverse Teams Drive Innovation When Supported by Inclusive Climates" matter for design?
- Design projects, especially those involving teams, benefit from understanding how to harness the potential of diverse perspectives. Creating an environment that values and integrates different viewpoints is crucial for unlocking creativity and driving novel solutions.
- How can designers apply this research?
- Actively cultivate inclusive and supportive team environments to ensure that diverse perspectives translate into innovative design outcomes.
- What were the main findings?
- Cognitive group diversity mediates the negative relationship between visible dissimilarity and innovative work behavior.. Innovative/entrepreneurial and team/clan climates moderate the relationship between visible dissimilarity and cognitive group diversity, reducing the negative impact of visible dissimilarity on innovative work behavior.
- What research method was used?
- Cross-sectional survey research with 584 participants.
- How strong is the evidence?
- Evidence strength is rated Moderate effect, based on a 2020 journal from European Journal of Innovation Management.
- What should I do differently in my next project?
- When leading or participating in design projects, consciously promote an environment where all team members feel safe to share their unique perspectives, and actively seek out diverse cognitive approaches.
- What are the limitations?
- The study used a cross-sectional, single-source data set, which limits the ability to establish causal relationships.