At a sufficiently large scale, any organization that has maximum "diversity" across all variables will become average. Why? Because taking a stand—any stand—is the basis for the boundary of the firm. It's what separates what's inside from what's outside. We must answer the question: "What makes us... us?"

In order to succeed, we need generative difference—members of different races, backgrounds, and experiences. But, we also need clarity and coherence. We need to be explicit about the lines that matter to us, and have enough alignment and connection that a whole emerges from the parts.

In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans talk about what it takes to achieve that level of coherence, and how easy it is to tip the scales too far in either direction.

Mentioned references:

• "Brave New Work bookshelf": See references mentioned throughout the series, but the show notes for Ep. 12 are a great place to start.
• "the canvas": The Ready's OS Canvas

Our book is available now at bravenewwork.com

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