10/1/19

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MGT 18 • Managing Diverse Teams

Rady School of Management
Professor Mary A. McKay

Diversity can improve the bottom line.

It may even matter as much as ability.

- Scott Page

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WHAT WE WILL COVER EACH WEEK

1. Foundations of the Course: Business Case for Diversity

2. Modern Prejudice: Unconscious Bias and In-group Favoritism
3. Diverse Teams at Work
4. Understand Before You Are Understood: Psychological Safety and
Communication
5. Conflict in Diverse Settings + midterm exam
6. Cultural Competence and Global Teams
7. Modern Workplace Teams: Gender and Age
8. Leading 21st Century Teams at ColorTech Greenhouses, Inc.
9. Leading 21st Century Teams at Disney Animation Studios + GRAD Panel
10. Diverse Teams in Practice

KIT PARKER, PART 1

Find Parts 1 and 2 in the Week 1 Module

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THE BUSINESS CASE FOR DIVERSITY

Week 1 Reading

§Page: Making the Difference: Applying a Logic of

Diversity
§Banaji et al.: How (Un)ethical Are You?
§Goldsmith: Diversity Tension

HERE AT RADY SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

We study diversity because it helps us to

§ solve complex problems

§ serve the needs of very diverse people
§ be accurate more often
§ win when otherwise we would not
§ survive in this very real world of business

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IN OUR CLASSROOM

We will consider diversity from multiple

perspectives:

§Domestic
§Global
§Identity
§Cognitive

DIFFERENCES ARE MANY

And diversity tension is easy to imagine

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GOLDSMITH: DIVERSITY TENSION

I agree with Goldsmith. In the modern and global

world of business, success calls for leaders who
are comfortable with diversity tension.

Optional reading in Week 1 Module

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WHAT KIND OF ENVIRONMENT?

Comfort with diversity tension and a

commitment to open discourse are essential for a
successful experience in MGT 18. Let’s use our
“mixture of differences and similarities” as a
creative force.

Begin with a diverse group of people

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What we tend to see… Diversity through a social or political lens

WHEN WE LOOK AT A DIVERSE GROUP

Too often, we see diversity through the incomplete

lens of VISIBLE elements of our identity – and (too
often) we see difference as a challenge.
§ What are some visible elements of identity?
§ When you look across a room, how often do you
categorize, classify or label others based on these
elements?

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WHEN WE LOOK AT A DIVERSE GROUP

Some of these labels are associated with a long and

painful history of political movements – individuals and
groups fighting for:

§ Religious freedom
§ Women’s rights
§ Civil rights
§ Americans with Disabilities Act
§ Gay rights

WHEN WE LOOK AT A DIVERSE GROUP

We interpret diversity through the lens of issue

politics and societal conflict which then

§ becomes part of a national dialogue,

§ plays out in public policy and the courts, and
§ has very practical impact on very real people

These are issues of access, equity and inclusion

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IN THIS WAY THE PLAYING FIELD IS LEVEL

We were all built to be biased. We are biased in favor of

those who are JUST LIKE US, because long ago it helped
us to survive.

IN THIS WAY THE PLAYING FIELD IS LEVEL

In the coming weeks, we will learn how our brains are

wired in favor of homogeneity. We manage vast amounts
of information by organizing and categorizing – in other
words, we put people and information into little boxes.
We look across a room and categorize, classify and label.
We choose in favor of others who are like us.

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IN THIS WAY THE PLAYING FIELD IS LEVEL

We each demonstrate in-group favoritism and are

impacted by it. Sometimes favorably and sometimes not.

How often do you surround yourself with others who

§ Look like you?

§ Think like you?
§ Speak like you?

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Wake up everybody! Your brain is going to sleep.

DON’T MISS OUT

Today, we might be less concerned with survival

in the same way as our ancestors, but we
continue to show in-group favoritism because we
think life (and work) will be easier and we won’t
have to try as hard.

We all lose with such narrow thinking.

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SCOTT E. PAGE

Talk given at Iowa State on the business case for diversity

Let’s take another look at our diverse group

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WHEN WE LOOK AT A DIVERSE GROUP

We COULD see…

Diversity equals new perspectives and tools in the toolbox:

§ Perspectives
§ Categories
§ Models
§ Experiences
§ Narratives

A FEW STORIES

The diverse group will outperform by a

substantial margin the homogeneous group when
dealing with complex problems.

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SCOTT E. PAGE, PART 2 : HOMEWORK

Find the two video segments from Page at YouTube/marymckay4

UNDERSTANDING
SUPER-ADDITIVITY

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PAGE

Conditions required for diversity to trump ability:

§ The problem has to be hard

§ The people have to be smart
§ The people have to be diverse
§ The teams have to be reasonably big and chosen
from a large pool

WELCOME AND ESSENTIALS

§ Welcome to Rady
§ Introductions / TA
§ Syllabus: Email/Reader/CANVAS
§ Course Requirements
§ Grading goals and policies
§ Special schedule week
§ Pass/No Pass
§ Waitlisted students
§ Unplugged classroom
§ Bonus i>Clicker next Tuesday. Carry your i>Clicker everyday! Register your device on
the course website (see menu options).
§ Course QUIZ due October 6 before 11:59 PM

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I>CLICKER (SAMPLE)

Scott Page believes in the power of leveraging

differences in order to improve performance.

a. True
b. False

I>CLICKER

What is your class status?

a. 1st year
b. 2nd year
c. 3rd year
d. 4th year
e. Beyond 4th year

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I>CLICKER

Are you enrolled at UCSD as an international

student?

a. Yes
b. No

I>CLICKER

Are you an International Studies – International

Business major?

a. Yes
b. No

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I>CLICKER

Are you a Business Psychology major?

a. Yes
b. No

Homework for next class session:

§ Social Identity Profile (bring to class for discussion)
§ projectimplicit.com (complete one IAT and be prepared to
discuss your experience in class)

§ Public Image Worksheet (bring to class for discussion)

Find instructions in Week 2 Content folder

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