{"id":1108,"date":"2025-11-19T10:01:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T08:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/?page_id=1108"},"modified":"2025-11-28T17:34:44","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T15:34:44","slug":"team-diversity","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/online\/people\/team-diversity\/","title":{"rendered":"Team diversity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover alignfull is-light wp-duotone-orange\" style=\"margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);min-height:50px;aspect-ratio:unset;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2138\" height=\"916\" class=\"wp-block-cover__image-background wp-image-734 size-full\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/people.jpg\" style=\"object-position:67% 33%\" data-object-fit=\"cover\" data-object-position=\"67% 33%\" srcset=\"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/people.jpg 2138w, https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/people-800x343.jpg 800w, https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/people-1920x823.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/people-768x329.jpg 768w, https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/people-1536x658.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/people-2048x877.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2138px) 100vw, 2138px\" \/><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-background-dim-0 has-background-dim has-background-gradient\" style=\"background:linear-gradient(90deg,rgb(255,255,255) 34%,rgba(255,255,255,0.58) 65%,rgba(255,0,0,0) 99%)\"><\/span><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-cover-is-layout-1c6a4ab4 wp-block-cover-is-layout-constrained\"><nav style=\"font-style:normal;font-weight:600;line-height:1\" class=\"has-text-color has-base-color items-justified-center alignwide wp-block-navigation is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-navigation-is-layout-72be065f wp-block-navigation-is-layout-flex\" aria-label=\"People \u2013 Level 2\"><ul style=\"font-style:normal;font-weight:600;line-height:1\" class=\"wp-block-navigation__container has-text-color has-base-color items-justified-center alignwide wp-block-navigation\"><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/people\/origin-and-culture\/\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">Origin and Culture<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/people\/personality\/\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">Personality<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/people\/work-gearing\/\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">Work gearing<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/people\/leadership-styles\/\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">Leadership styles<\/span><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h1 style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);margin-left:0;margin-right:0\" class=\"has-text-align-center has-link-color wp-elements-49031cb4b1744a129271dd1611534cc4 wp-block-post-title has-text-color has-contrast-color\">Team diversity<\/h1>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" src=\"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Similar-people-1920x1280.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1431\" style=\"object-fit:cover;width:600px;height:300px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Similar-people-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Similar-people-800x533.jpg 800w, https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Similar-people-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Similar-people-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Similar-people-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">People tend to employ people who are like them. This could look like the same personality style, work gearing, leadership style, soft skills, or a combination of the above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In spite of multiple rounds of interviews, profiling, independent perspectives, etc., we\u2019ve often found ourselves working in teams where people have very similar wiring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This doesn\u2019t seem like a bad idea in the beginning \u2013 people seem to find common ground more quickly and feel more at home working with people they experience as being like them. But it often quickly becomes problematic for several reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-custom-orange-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-5a4db1d502581b05e21a307fdfdbf089 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>1) Echo chamber<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When people are similar, they tend to see the world from the same perspective and then they end up hearing back, from their teammates, the very things they\u2019ve said or would say themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This can create an unhelpful reinforcement loop which may not actually be right or helpful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-custom-orange-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-35dbcc28037dfa6df66584e8d9fbe21f wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>2) Double-downs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s a term we use when people have wiring that intensifies a certain kind of behaviour. For example, Brad as a self-preservation quiet observer is already withdrawn as a self-preservation person, but when combined with his personality type, he can have the tendency to be particularly reserved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now imagine a whole team of people like Brad. And let\u2019s say they\u2019re software developers who like to work from home and don\u2019t like talking. These kinds of patterns can quickly get in people\u2019s way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-custom-orange-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-9d6227a870d6e496181e9972b8c0066e wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>3) Projection<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Projection is a psychological term. It happens when people call out things in others because they\u2019re actually like that themselves, but they hate it in themselves. So when they see it in others, they tend to get prickled by it and may even call it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And when people get called out for something the other person also does, it looks like hypocrisy \u2013 which it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The list can go on \u2013 a lot of withdrawn people in one space or a lot of assertive people in one space can have knock-on effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-custom-orange-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-be81da9e8bce6e3feb54e681f61babfb wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>A better way<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-link-color wp-elements-d77a3fee282fcb59f767be5e57c4bb68 wp-block-paragraph\">When we have diversity in a team, it creates difference: different <a href=\"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/people\/personality\/\">intelligence centres <\/a>(head, heart, gut), different social instincts, <a href=\"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/people\/work-gearing\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/people\/work-gearing\/\">work gearing <\/a>and leaderhsip <a href=\"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/people\/leadership-styles\/\">styles<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At first this is really tricky. People will naturally pull away from each other in the beginning and differ on approach. This often leads to conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-link-color wp-elements-bf302786b9ccdd050ed79ae5d4ddd4f4 wp-block-paragraph\">But as they learn the skill of <a href=\"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/people\/positioning\/\">stepping forwards and stepping backwards<\/a>, things start to change. We\u2019ll cover more on this here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A team that understands the skill sets around the table defers to the people who are best positioned to take the lead on something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-link-color wp-elements-fb8f92fed7dadb4658930cd48ca3a15b wp-block-paragraph\">As <a href=\"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/process\/highly-predictable-teams\/\">teams <\/a>learn that the sum of the parts is better than the individual contribution, they start to think about how they can work together and progress together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-custom-orange-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-19e46552107e482cb22ea1efe506cc18 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>You can\u2019t profile for it<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Having said that, it doesn\u2019t mean you can simply profile people in an attempt to get the \u201cright person\u201d into the company or onto the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s important to understand that people are not robots. The way people tend to show up is along the lines of their default behaviours. But when they choose, with conscious thought, to show up differently, they can behave differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The process of working with people in this way is more an art than it is a science. It\u2019s about taking the time to understand the nuances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide glasses is-layout-grid wp-container-core-group-is-layout-086dc8cf wp-block-group-is-layout-grid\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50)\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover is-light has-custom-content-position is-position-top-center has-border-color has-accent-5-border-color has-aspect-ratio\" style=\"border-style:solid;border-width:2px;aspect-ratio:auto;min-height:unset;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"687\" class=\"wp-block-cover__image-background wp-image-1309 size-full\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/diving-mask.png\" data-object-fit=\"cover\"\/><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-custom-orange-background-color has-background-dim-90 has-background-dim\"><\/span><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-cover-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-6c05ca53 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"min-height:100px\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/people\/team-mapping\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"687\" src=\"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/diving-mask.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1309\" style=\"width:100px\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center has-base-color has-text-color has-link-color has-large-font-size wp-elements-f0bbe49614450b2c806d9e3e1a70542d\"><a href=\"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/people\/team-mapping\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"1106\">Team mapping<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><em>.<\/em>..<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover is-light has-custom-content-position is-position-top-center has-border-color has-accent-5-border-color has-aspect-ratio\" style=\"border-style:solid;border-width:2px;aspect-ratio:auto;min-height:unset;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"483\" class=\"wp-block-cover__image-background wp-image-1310 size-full\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/goggles-snorkeling.png\" data-object-fit=\"cover\"\/><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-custom-orange-background-color has-background-dim-90 has-background-dim\"><\/span><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-cover-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-6c05ca53 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"min-height:100px\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/people\/team-diversity\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"483\" src=\"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/goggles-snorkeling.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1310\" style=\"width:100px\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center has-base-color has-text-color has-link-color has-large-font-size wp-elements-bbe343522c01f43f16f52a38fde0e305\"><a href=\"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/people\/team-diversity\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"1108\">Team diversity<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><em>.<\/em>..<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover is-light has-custom-content-position is-position-top-center has-border-color has-accent-5-border-color has-aspect-ratio\" style=\"border-style:solid;border-width:2px;min-height:300px;aspect-ratio:auto;min-height:unset;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"843\" height=\"410\" class=\"wp-block-cover__image-background wp-image-1238 size-full\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/swimming-goggles.png\" data-object-fit=\"cover\" srcset=\"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/swimming-goggles.png 843w, https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/swimming-goggles-800x389.png 800w, https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/swimming-goggles-768x374.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 843px) 100vw, 843px\" \/><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-custom-orange-background-color has-background-dim-90 has-background-dim\"><\/span><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-cover-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-6c05ca53 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"min-height:100px\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/people\/positioning\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"843\" height=\"410\" src=\"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/swimming-goggles.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1238\" style=\"width:100px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/swimming-goggles.png 843w, https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/swimming-goggles-800x389.png 800w, https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/swimming-goggles-768x374.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 843px) 100vw, 843px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center has-base-color has-text-color has-link-color has-large-font-size wp-elements-f31a816d7f2ac77e1a3065b860f5607b\"><a href=\"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/people\/positioning\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"1110\">Step forward\/back<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><em>.<\/em>..<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>People tend to employ people who are like them. This could look like the same personality style, work gearing, leadership style, soft skills, or a combination of the above. In spite of multiple rounds of interviews, profiling, independent perspectives, etc., we\u2019ve often found ourselves working in teams where people have very similar wiring. This doesn\u2019t [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":312,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1108","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1108"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1441,"href":"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1108\/revisions\/1441"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/th1nk.co.za\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}