When technology teams lack diverse perspectives, shared assumptions can shape what gets built, whose needs are prioritized, and which risks receive attention. Even highly skilled teams can overlook important product and business concerns when members approach problems from similar professional, cultural or personal vantage points.
Improving representation is an important step, but leaders must also build processes that invite different viewpoints and give team members room to challenge prevailing ideas. Below, members of Forbes Technology Council examine the risks that can emerge when perspectives are limited and share practical ways leaders can bring a broader range of experience, knowledge and viewpoints into their teams’ work.
Solving The Wrong Problem
The biggest risk is solving the wrong problem. Teams with similar perspectives often define problems too narrowly and overlook important context. Leaders should bring diverse voices into the problem-definition stage, not just solution review. Better products come from better problem framing, not just better technology. - Dhiraj Rajaram, Mu Sigma
Designing From An Insular Viewpoint
