Rebel ideas

If there was ever a time to realise that being different is our collective strength, 2021 sure feels like it.

Matthew Syed’s latest book Rebel Ideas is a fascinating delve into the importance and power of cognitive diversity – differences shaped by our experiences, expertise and perspectives. He sees it as the core ingredient for collective intelligence, especially important in the context of teams and innovation.

Chapter after chapter, Sayed affirms the common narrative that ‘diversity is good’ and demonstrates it with several fascinating real-world examples, such as why the CIA underestimated Osama Bin Laden as a “real threat” or the way a third-generation white supremacist flipped his views entirely because of a trusting relationship.

What really struck me, though, was the exploration of how to create an environment that values, encourages and celebrates cognitive diversity. The book includes guidance for workplaces that want to build trust and harness cognitive diversity to solve complex problems.

“The very meaning of collaboration changes when we start to think about diversity in a new way (...) you can only build a culture of diversity when you have first grasped the concepts of diversity.”