“Our data shows that for gender diversity to have an impact on innovation, you need to have more than 20% of women in leadership. Only in the group where you have more than 20% women in leadership do you see a clear jump in innovation revenue to above-average levels”
– Rocio Lorenzo, Management Consultant & Diversity Researcher, BCG (Link to TED Talk: http://bit.ly/2owC5ey)
Lorenzo and her team collaborated with the Technical University of Munich to survey 171 companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland with the goal of determining whether or not diversity led to an actual competitive advantage within companies.
Just as innovation can drive diversity, diversity can drive innovation.
Parallel to Mortenson’s understanding of Lean Innovation, innovation and diversity co-exist in a seamless loop that requires the presence of both. Innovation has proved time and time again to lead to competitive advantages.