The Importance of Building Diversity in Ourselves

With the latest strides in tech, we already know the vast importance of building diverse teams, but one thing that is often underplayed is the importance of building diversity in ourselves. Through travel, experiences, and openness to other cultures, we can condition ourselves to build products that are more accessible and better for everyone.

One of the primary issues with the way a lot of companies treat diversity is that it doesn’t go beyond skin color. While physical attributes are important and most certainly do have an impact on the individual, diversity is much more than that. It’s the neighborhood someone grew up in, the language they speak, their beliefs and view of the world, and so much more. This was the kind of sentiment that Apple expressed directly from Tim Cook at a quarterly meeting I attended a few years back. Cook emphasized that diversity was about bringing people together with unique backgrounds and experiences and using these differences to build great products.

Building my inner diversity is one of the primary reasons that I love traveling. I would take a trip where I live in an authentic neighborhood setting and experience being a local for a week (made so easy today by AirBnB) any day over a stay in a 5-star resort. My favorite trips are the ones where I’m traveling with someone local and well equipped with the cultural norms of wherever I’m going.

While it can be stressful to go where your personal set of cultural guidelines no longer apply, it is the greatest kind of learning experience that you can have. In order to change the way you think, you have to step out of your comfort zone. Once you do this, you’ll start to question everything.

Travel is one of the easiest ways to increase individual diversity, but it can also be done without the plane ticket. Learn a new language on Duolingo. Step out of your comfort zone and meet people with different backgrounds and beliefs than you. Browse the Internet and read about different cultures and world history. Question everything. You’ll find that the world is a far more interesting place than the narrow window you were given in social studies class, and by doing so, you’ll gain a view of the world that will result in better products and a better you.

Disclaimer: This is a personal post, and the opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts and not those of my current or formal employers.

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