Putting Our Differences to Work: The Fastest Way to Innovation, Leadership, and High Performance (Bk Business) (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Sally K. Green (Illustrator), Joel A. Barker (Foreword)
Key Phrases: measuring progress, five distinctive qualities, quick organizational snapshot, Five Distinctive Qualities of Leadership, Moving Forward, Keeping Momentum Alive (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Putting our differences to work means creating an environment where people, naturally unique and different, can work more effectively in ways that drive new levels of creativity, innovation, problem solving, leadership, and performance in the marketplaces, workplaces, and communities of the world.

Debbe Kennedy shows how to make all the dimensions of difference--such as thinking styles, perspectives, experiences, work habits, and management styles, as well as more traditional diversity considerations like gender, race, ethnicity, physical abilities, sexual orientation, and age--tremendous sources of strength. Kennedy draws on the latest research and a wealth of real-world examples to offer compelling evidence showing exactly how putting our differences to work accelerates innovation and contribution. She identifies five distinctive qualities of leadership that leaders must add to their portfolio of skills to make differences an engine of success. And she provides a detailed six-stage process for making the most of differences in the workforce, combining first-person best-practice stories and strategic with tactical ideas to help you put each step into action.

From the Publisher

"The dangers of `groupthink' are painfully apparent across our world. That's why diversity, broadly understood, is so essential to innovation and progress - as Debbe Kennedy reminds us in this pragmatic and wise guide for leaders."
-Mike Wing, Vice President, Strategic Communications, IBM

"Personal, reflective, insightful and inspirational. Full of great ideas and a very powerful story that shows how we need to redefine leadership and diversity in order to help make the world a better place. Needs to be widely read - urgently!"
-Dr. Bruce Lloyd Emeritus Professor of Strategic Management London South Bank University

"The power of Debbe Kennedy's storytelling helps us all see our own accomplishments in a new light. At the same time, the stories encourage us to take our leadership to a new level. The six steps she offers provide a roadmap to leaders and organizations on how to effectively put differences to work."
-Emily J. Duncan former Vice President, Culture and Diversity, Hewlett Packard Emily Duncan Consulting

"Debbe teaches us how diversity accelerates innovation to everyone's advantage. This is a win-win-win book in which you and your people win, your organization wins, and the world wins."
-Excerpt from Foreword by Joel A. Barker Futurist, filmmaker and bestselling author of Paradigms: The Business of Discovering the Future

"Leaders must find new sources of growth more than ever today. After questioning what leadership means while reading Putting Our Differences to Work, I found myself focused on one thing: I, the leader, must first harness our people's rich and diverse experiences, cultures and perspectives to attract growth." Debbe Kennedy compels us to see the source of unimagined growth that is locked within the people in our organization. Unlock, innovate and win... together."
-Lane A. Michel Executive Vice President Quaero Corporation Accelerating Marketing Performance

"We know that to create a sustainable, peaceful, and socially just world, we must change our attitudes toward relationships and the ways we conduct business. Debbe Kennedy's Putting Our Differences to Work spells this out eloquently. It blazes a trail down the path to this new paradigm, offering us guidelines, solutions, and hope. A book for this amazing time of challenges and opportunities!"
-John Perkins author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man and The Secret History of the American Empire

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers; illustrated edition edition (June 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576754995
• ISBN-13: 978-1576754993
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #211,969 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally somebody got it right, June 10, 2008

By	Charles Decker (New York, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is just a wonderful book. The topic of diversity is one fraught with land mines, but Debbe Kennedy has figured out a way to discuss the issue without stepping on any of them. She makes it clear, for the first time I think, that it's not just about skin color but about how people see things in different ways and how others can profit by looking from various angles. The stories in this book are particularly rich and should resonate with both managers and employees in every size company. But don't think it's just for the workplace; I think it can also be valuable for everyday interactions at home and in the community as well.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Relevant, August 25, 2009

By	Michael Gooch "Author of Wingtips with Spurs:... (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

The author, Debbe Kennedy has written an excellent book in an area where modern industries and services need a tremendous amount of help. As a corporate director of human resources, I can attest to the strengths that an organization will acquire by following the edicts in this book. The book's goal is to create an environment and culture where naturally different people work together more effectively as they attain - and surpass - the organizational goals in leadership and performance.

Debbe Kennedy shows how differences can mean much more than just the solidified categories such as race and sex. Her use of real-world examples of varying experiences and styles of management drive home the point that the area of diversity should never be shunned or viewed as a mere consequence but rather as the source of strength for future growth and excellence. In addition, I greatly appreciated the amount of research that went into this tome. This research lends an authorative tone to the work and makes it a compelling study in diversity.

In today's age of hyper-blending of cultures, this book will be a great asset to those who approach the subject with an open mind and implement the ideas generated in this book. Diversity is the current situation and will grow by leaps and bounds as time progresses. For us to progress, we must learn to tap into this growing well of strength. Those who don't are sadly doomed to fail.

I would also like to recommend Don't Bring It to Work: Breaking the Family Patterns That Limit Success and High Altitude Leadership: What the World's Most Forbidding Peaks Teach Us About Success (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership). Both are excellent managerial material.

I hope you find this review helpful.

Michael L. Gooch, SPHR

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Why diversity matters and how to manage it strategically, August 12, 2008

By	Leslie K. Evelalnd (Los Altos, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Too often diversity programs are seen as extraneous to the core business of the organization. In this powerful book, Debbe Kennedy offers convincing evidence that managing diversity is key to an organization's ability to innovate and adapt to a rapidly changing world. Using diversity as a strategic advantage requires that we know how to "put our differences to work" --how to align our different ways of thinking and seeing the world to create breakthrough products and solutions. The "Putting our Difference to Work Model" that Debbe describes and illustrates in this book can be applied by any leader in any organization. The examples and case studies she sites ground the model in the real world. She offers tools and techniques that help people with different ways of thinking come together to get things done. The "how to" information in this book is useful and easy to apply, but it is the explanation of why diversity matters that makes this book so compelling. Debbe makes it clear that putting differences to work is the key task of today's leader.