What can science teach us about diverse teams? Can we use evidence to improve work?
Order The Joy of Work
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my podcast:
https://eatsleepworkrepeat.fm/
Link In to Bruce: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brucedaisley/
Reading the mind in the eyes test
http://socialintelligence.labinthewild.org/mite/
Amy Edmondson on psychological safety
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhoLuui9gX8
Mock juries
https://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2006/05/group-diversity-mock-juries-reveal-surprising-effects-diversity-groups
Anita Williams Woolley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy6-qJmqz3w
Frat houses
https://hbr.org/2016/09/diverse-teams-feel-less-comfortable-and-thats-why-they-perform-better?autocomplete=true
2. POSITIVE
AFFECT
PSYCHOLOGICAL
SAFETY
The Joy of Work
I’ve spent the last 2 years immersed in the science of
good work cultures and successful teams. I’ll try to
give you a perspect of what I’ve learned
3. POSITIVE
AFFECT
PSYCHOLOGICAL
SAFETY
The Joy of Work
There’s an incredible amount of research that suggest
that to achieve the best state of working culture you
need to achieve these two states. I’ll talk through them.
5. The Joy Of Work
Imagine the scenario, you’re at home on a Saturday
night. The phone rings. It’s someone at a payphone.
They’re gutted because they’ve used their last coin and
they’ve dialled a wrong number - you!
7. The Joy Of Work
Well that depends on how you’re feeling. If you’re in a
good mood - what Alice Isen called ‘positive affect’ -
you’re far more likely to take the number they were
calling and pass on a message.
8. The Joy Of Work
If you’re in a bad mood… you don’t.
This ‘positive affect’ has a big bearing on how we do our
jobs, how we collaborate and, it turns out, our creativity.
9. The Joy Of Work
The second element of good work culture is called
psychological safety. Named by pioneering researcher
Amy Edmundson. There’s a presentation by her in the
notes.
10. The Joy Of Work
Psychological safety is our willingness to speak up to the
boss. In her work she observed that the hospitals that
seemed the best…
11. The Joy Of Work
Psychological safety is our willingness to speak up to the
boss. In her work she observed that the hospitals that
seemed the best…
Often made the most mistakes. She couldn’t
understand why.
12. The Joy Of Work
It wasn’t that they made the most mistakes. It was that
they were most willing to discuss them. It felt safe to say
‘I messed up’
13. The Joy of WorkNow let’s add
the impact of
diversity to
this.
Researchers
took a group
that was very
homogenous.
A frat house.
14. The Joy of WorkNow let’s add
the impact of
diversity to
this.
Researchers
took a group
that was very
homogenous.
A frat house.
They gave them a murder mystery. They started with 20
mins to read the case then another member of the frat
house came in.
15. The Joy of Work
Then after a short while another person came in. This
time half of the time it was a frat house member and half
the time it was a stranger.
16. The Joy of Work
The results were unequivocal.
Those in the unfamiliar groups enjoyed the challenge
significantly less than the frat only groups.
17. The Joy of Work
But now look at the results the frat only groups solved
the mystery 29% of the time. The diverse groups scored
60%.
18. The Joy of Work
Diversity is often harder - but it’s more effective!
19. The researcher Sam Sommers took a group of several
hundred people and split them into juries of 6 at a time
20. Half were 4 white, 2 black. The rest were all white
21. Then he gave them a case involving a black defendant in a
sexual assault case
Half were 4 white, 2 black. The rest were all white
23. And they took 11 minutes longer in their deliberations.
Diversity ensured they did a better job.
The diverse group were 10% less likely to assume guilt
immediately
25. DEFAULT
NETWORK
Anita Williams Woolley from Carnegie Mellon university
wanted to explore the concept of ‘Collective Intelligence’
Were some groups just better at lots of problems?
27. DEFAULT
NETWORK
In turned out, yes, they were. They were better at mental
puzzles, negotiations, knowledge tests.
She wanted to understand what increased the ‘collective
intelligence’ of a group
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NETWORK
She found that this test, Simon Baron Cohen’s ‘Reading
the Mind in the Eyes’ test (find it in the notes)…
… was the main determinant. If people listened and
empathised with meeting colleagues they worked well
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NETWORK
Maybe you would guess this but women turned out to be
significantly better at this test.
In fact groups that were over 50% female were the best
of all. They read the room and took turns to speak.
30. The only way we’re going to fix
work is by arming passionate
people with proof.
31. The only way we’re going to fix
work is by arming passionate
people with proof.
You’ll find lots of the evidence
to get you started in the notes
below.
32. The only way we’re going to fix
work is by arming passionate
people with proof.
The Joy of Work is 30 ways to
change work rooted in science.
Available in the all the places.
You’ll find lots of the evidence
to get you started in the notes
below.