"We are more alike my friends..."

I am visiting Bern, Switzerland this week - I was honored to speak at the 12th European Postgraduate Course in Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care Medicine.  The blizzard in the northeastern part of the U.S. caused us to change our travel plans somewhat, so we actually flew into Geneva and took a train to Bern.  The Swiss countryside is absolutely beautiful, and the city of Bern is amazing.  Anyway, we did some sightseeing today, and I was struck by the fact that despite our differences, we are really not that much different.  There are some amazing things in Bern that I wish our country would adopt (free public transit for one), and the Swiss health care system really is great.  Our cultures are different, but I was reminded again how great people can be to one another.  I am certain that we stick out like sore thumbs ("silly Americans" is our running joke), but the people here have been wonderfully helpful, kind, and gracious.  I wish our respective governments were like that - there really is so much that we can learn from each other, if we would only take the time to do so. 

This week, I was reminded again that our diversity is truly a gift.  Teams that bring together different personalities, as well as different areas of expertise, knowledge, and skills generally are much more successful than teams that are made up of individuals with the same background, personality, and skillset.  If "teamwork makes the dream work" is really true, then it is only when we have diversity in our teams.  There is a great series of articles in this month's Harvard Business Review called "The new science of team chemistry" that delves into this issue further.  As it turns out, the management consultant company, Deloitte, analyzed personality data from over 20,000 individuals, both working inside and outside their company, and determined that there are four different personality types that are prevalent in any organization - Pioneers, Drivers, Integrators, and Guardians.  Teams that are well-balanced with individuals from these four groups are less susceptible to groupthink, though the authors are careful to point out and emphasize that leading these four different personality types takes some skill and forethought.  Again, when left with a choice between a diverse team and a similar, uniform team, give me the diversity. 

Finally, my trip to Switzerland reminded me again of another poem by Maya Angelou called the "Human Family".  Apple recently used the poem in one of their commercials, which I think was played for the first time in this year's Super Bowl.  It really is a great poem, and I think it solidifies my thinking on diversity.  Our diversity does make us stronger, but in reality, "we are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike."