COGNITIVE DIVERSITY
colleagues. Insights Discovery helps people understand themselves and their colleagues so that they can have more productive and positive working relationships.
The Insights Discovery Model
by Angela Day
Head of People, MOSL When we think of diversity, the things that often jump into our head are diverse characteristics such as gender, race and age, but how often do we think about cognitive diversity? Cognitive diversity relates to the differences in the way we process information and communicate with others. If we learn to embrace these cognitive differences to build diverse teams, it can led to better ways of working, greater productivity and give our organisations a competitive edge. Over the last year I have been rolling out Insights Discovery to my MOSL
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The model is based on the work of psychologists Carl Jung and Jolande Jacobi and uses four colours to represent observable behavioural patterns which are measured by an online evaluator a 25-frame questionnaire of statements from 100-word pairs which complete a personal profile. From their personal profile, individuals can better understand their own behavioural and communication preferences, enabling them to connect better with colleagues. This can improve collaboration and support a common language to help overcome challenge and conflict. The simple and memorable four colour model helps people understand their style, their strengths, potential blind spots and the value they bring to the team. I work hard to ensure that people don’t see their colour energies as ‘boxes’ or as a restriction to their potential. All of us
have the four colour energies, we simply have higher preferences in some colours. We may have an introverted preference, or a thinking preference. We may lean towards a desire to work with facts and data, or a preference towards working with and getting energy from others.
What do we mean by ‘preferences’? The best way to describe this is to use the following practical example. Cross your arms. Now uncross your arms and cross your arms again, but this time do it so that the arm that was on top is now under and the arm underneath is now on top. My guess is that you managed to do this, but that it took some thinking about and when you got there it felt strange and you wanted to revert back to the first way. This is a preference. This exercise demonstrates that you can fold your arms differently, but to do so takes more conscious effort and feels a bit strange. It is the same with tapping into and dialling up those colour energies that are not our natural ‘go to’ place. Interestingly however, when we are required to use those behaviours and communication styles that are our least preferred, we often do this very well. Why?
