Link: http://www.etc-architect.com/?p=35
From ETC-Architect » Architect Global | Data Architect, Global | Enterprise Architect, Global
When I think of diversity usually I think of HR and long awareness meetings and a realisation that a heterogenous environment helps everyone, however diversity goes beyond this. Now before I talk about the new hype that is built on diversity I want to focus a bit on the ever existing tension between diversity and standardisation. Standardisation means that ideally we want a single standard for everything (as in everything is white and male) and as such excludes diversity. However that kind of thinking stops short of the business case for standardisation that is built on synergy. Synergy however only happens if you include all the possessives and often what we see implemented as synergy through standardisation is just finding the smallest common denominator or just using the player with biggest influence.
So what does it mean that diversity gets a hype. Well in Architecture we had our hypes such SOA, Cloud, B2B, Governance,.. All these focused on one idea to be used in every aspect of the enterprise. Diversity on the other hand concentrates on innovations in different areas, so agile may be good in one area and wrong in the other. There are very few standards right for all areas. Now you may ask if this approach is not just a reversal of the synergistic phases and the associated savings? This is where you will need to learn on how diversity is applied in other areas. Diversity does not mean that suddenly everything is allowed and that there are standards (this also was a famous argument against diversity 50 years ago), but instead diversity in society only work if there is social cohesion. So when we try to implement diversity into other areas we also need to ensure cohesion, which means that we will arrive at a limited portfolio of answers to the subject, so a kind of oligarchy.
