I'm not in favor of homogeneity of the workplace. I tend to thrive in an office with people of various geographic, racial, cultural, etc. backgrounds. I'm in favor of workplaces that open to this, diversity is a plus.

I think there is little doubt that meaningful diversity offers greater potential for creative solutions. But, an old black man and a young white woman can be more alike in their thinking than two people sharing the same perceptual characteristics. On the other hand, everyone has a unique perspective to offer.
The real key to applying diversity is "culture", both personal and group. Insecure opinionated people find it difficult to openly contribute. And more importantly, a group atmosphere of mistrust will kill creativity.
To successfully reap the benefits of diversity, companies must not only encourage and support open communiction, but also provide opportunities for participation. When decisions are made behind closed doors, and without explaination, trust is diminished, and diversity becomes threatening.

I think what the first two posters missed is that the article says SKILL diversity helps in the workplace, which only makes sense.
tha rticle also says that racial and sexual diversity initially have negative impact.

personally I do not pay much attention to race or sex in the workplace, it is the persons skills that matter.

lack of a female, mongol, or negro in an office will not hurt an office. lack of secretarial, computer, or people skills will.

yeah,...sure. Then, I guess all of you santimonious types would be in favor of heavily denouncing ANY type of segregating ANYONE out of a job based purely on race...RIGHT?
Pan back to the early 80's in Tucson, Arizona at a luncheon with the Learjet HR people. As snooping sales manager, I pried one of them with the question, " if a black man and I -- ALL things being equal, applied for a job for which we were both emminently qualified, to whom would you award the job?"
Chief of HR replied, " I'd give it to the black guy EVEN IF THE QUALIFICATIONS WEREN'T AS GOOD AS YOURS." I diddled a bit with the whys and where-fors over polite conversation with equal employment jousting for a moment or two and let it drop.
Much to my chagrin, the Learjet company has suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous market place misfortunes since then.
Go figure.

I'm a huge diversity champion and prefer my workplace to be comprised of individuals of all race, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, etc.

If it wasn't for diversity at work, most people would never seek the company of others unlike themselves. And it would be harder to learn how to communicate in an increasingly diverse world.

Diversity is more about talent isn't it. The reality is that many companies will hire people similar to them but many companies do benefit from a wide range of experiences and backgrounds.

What is diversity? Ideas? skin color? perspective? Experience?

The stongest companies will be the ones that make the best use of the best people. This doesn't mean quotas, or training boot camps... this means taking a look at a job's requirements and then taking a look at the candidates for that job... and EVERYTHING they can bring to the table.

The biggest "X" against diversity is the way large companies are managing it like a quota system. Measuring diversity (ie black and women) at every job level. Market forces will work this out... let the big companies create their quotas.. and the well run companies pick the right people... Jack Welch got it right when he said I will have a "diverse slate"... equal opportunity... not equal outcomes.

Wow. I love that statements like the ones below went completely unchallenged:

--lack of a female, mongol, or negro in an office will not hurt an office.

--Chief of HR replied, " I'd give it to the black guy EVEN IF THE QUALIFICATIONS WEREN'T AS GOOD AS YOURS."

The problem with discussing "diversity" is that, from reading the posts here, it focuses pretty much on race and gender and, maybe, sexual orientation. How can any one person even describe diversity?

Let's say there is a black woman. OK. But what about her character, experiences, and other personal qualities make her a diverse addition?

Maybe just being black and female have given unique perspectives? OK. What about other physical attributes? Do companies need a proportion of the obese that reflects America? Being obese certainly impacts your day-to-day existence. What about being physically unattractive? Or short? Or Asian? (Diversity seems to stop with blacks.)

Like the tree that falls in the woods with nobody around, can we say diversity exists or doesn't without understanding what is out there? Can you show me a test that measures diversity? If the point is more woman, blacks, and gays just say it (and call it the quota it is), and diversity can be considered for the complexity it really is.