Joe Gerstandt | keynote speaker, freedom fighter, freak-flag flier

I am committed to helping this body of work continue to evolve and expand.  I am committed to making sure that this work is an integral part of what we do to architect the future.  In my last post, I mentioned some of what I see to be key trends regarding the future of diversity   [Read More…]

My hope is to help diversity and inclusion work continue to evolve.  I think that our understanding of and approach to this work has not changed much in the past 30+ years.  Some of the issues have changed and some of our tactics have changed, but I do not think there has been much evolution   [Read More…]

When I am traveling home from a conference there are always a number of things bouncing around in my head…conversations that I had, presentations that I sat in on and my feelings about the conference overall.  I think that the 2010 SHRM Diversity and Inclusion Conference was a really good conference. It was a privilege   [Read More…]

On my way to Boston to participate in RecruitFest as part of the Talent Anarchy team.  Looking forward to it for a few reasons…I get to hang out with some good friends, I get to meet other folks that I have been looking forward to meeting, and I get to participate in this funky event.    [Read More…]

There is a great deal of evidence showing diversity (especially cognitive diversity) to be a powerful factor toward innovation, increased problem solving ability and better decision making for groups. Put another way, it is going to be more and more difficult with each passing day for teams and organizations to compete if they are not   [Read More…]

The topic is straight white guys…well, three of them at least. I don’t have anything against straight white guys.  I happen to be one myself.  But I do on occasion shake my fist at the status quo here, and in our current system, the status quo is still pretty strongly correlated with straight, white and   [Read More…]

Please join us for an interactive exploration of personal truth, community, and the power of story. Saturday, September 11th 2010 UNO – CPACS building, Creative Commons 1:00pm – 4:30pm registration is required – group size limited part story-telling part listening part creating the future Each of us has a story to tell and each of   [Read More…]

This is going to seem like it is self-serving.  I tried to convince myself not to write it because I knew that it would appear that way, but the topic will not leave me alone.  I have been travelling the interwebs and have come across more HR events dismissive of issues of diversity and inclusion.   [Read More…]

Words matter.  A lot. “Oh we are inclusive Joe, we are all over the diversity thing.” This is a line from a conversation that I had recently with a business leader and a good example of asking the wrong question and / or not having an actual logical foundation to support our language.  Inclusion is   [Read More…]

“To be creative requires divergent thinking (generating many unique ideas) and then convergent thinking (combining those ideas into the best result).” -Newsweek I do an increasing amount of speaking and presenting on cognitive diversity…what it is, why it matters, how to benefit from it, how it is linked to better decision making and innovation.  I   [Read More…]