Where were the women in Davos?

According to Chris Parry, executive chairman at CHPD, Ruth Sunderland hit the nail on the head this month (“This mess was made by men. Now let the women have their say”, Observer, Sunday 1 February 2009). The biggest threat we now face is not the change that’s going on in the world right now, but our response to it. 

Chris Parry: “The ‘team’ at the top of our world has a dangerous make up.  The lack of gender diversity is but the tip of the iceberg.  What about diversity in terms of approach, experience, skill and philosophy?  Crucially, if we all think the same way, then we’re all likely to come up with the same solutions to the challenges we face.  What we need are fresh solutions, not the same old responses.  Those new solutions will come from a true diversity of thinking – quite possibly from people (including women) with different perspectives and experiences.

“This Davos ‘top team’ isn’t the only problem.  In our work in the business world, we find similar issues in the top teams of many businesses.  A board has recruited in its own image and is delighted when everyone agrees on a particular course of action.  The members don’t stop to think that maybe they all agree because they think the same way, not because that particular course of action is the right one.

“More gender diversity would undoubtedly help the team at Davos, but why not start with the objective of maximising the differences in the team’s thinking styles, experiences and philosophies?   

“Darwin’s theory that with diversity comes a much better chance of survival, not only applies to the natural world, but to the ‘man made’ one too.”

To find out more on diversity please click here.