Differentness comes in many forms: age, culture, ethnicity, thinking style, life experience, language, gender, etc. As Vice President of the Tampa Bay International Business Council, I work towards including our many diverse communities into the Tampa Bay economy, because this inclusion is a guarantee of growth and prosperity for the region.

My company, CPS, also trains fluency and inclusion of differentness, culture, generations, and diversity of every kind, because this is a guarantee of growth, innovation, security and development for the businesses and people of the Tampa Bay region.

The facts speak for themselves. More than half of the Silicon Valley companies founded in the past decade were led by at least one immigrant, according to a new study on the contributions of foreign-born entrepreneurs.

Nationwide in the US, about a quarter of technology and engineering companies created from 1995 through 2004 had at least one foreign-born founder, according to the report by Duke University’s Master of Engineering Management program.

The Duke University report expanded on a  study by UC Berkeley Professor Anna Lee Saxenian, which found that foreign-born scientists and engineers played a critical role in the growth of the California economy, particularly in Silicon Valley.

Successful innovators everywhere seek differentness, and invite new perspectives, input, and insights from the different minds in their organizations. They grow a culture of collaboration and critical thinking. They fight homogeneity and group-think as the path to stagnation, same-old-same-old or The Bay of Pigs (the classic case study of similar thinking people, who were not challenged by different perspectives).

Along with seeking differentness, successful organizations learn the ability to hear even soft murmurs from non-mainstream team members. One of Nissan’s most successful designs was created when the entire staff of NDI was brought out to see what was wrong with a model. A shy secretary mentioned quietly that the car looked sad: a simple redesign of the headlight angles was the key requirement.

Great companies walk the walk of growing their people from the (normal, human) position that most people occupy, which is  comfort with their own culture.  It is not easy to take the journey to recognizing, accepting, adapting to and integrating with other cultures or forms of diversity.  Good organizations provide innovative, enjoyable training and coaching that guides their people and supports them on this path. Ultimately, this helps everyone grow, to think in new ways, and to be ready to serve new markets and new customers in a multi-cultural, multi-generational and global world.

Differentness, distance and innovation require a set of thinking tools that are seldom taught in the US education system. However, once they are learned, these become key assets in 21st century business growth, innovation and project success. As they are learned, they also seep into homes and communities, improving the quality of life outside work, and preparing new generations for our ever-more complex world.

Tampa Bay is home to nearly 130 different ethnic and national groups – a wealth of differentness that can fuel an explosion of growth and innovation if we place a solid value on inclusion and diversity.

The Tampa Bay International Business Council is committed to this work – it delivers, but also values all the help we can get.

Competency & Performance Solutions is an innovative, exciting and affordable learning resource that delivers strong, sustainable and measurable  results within the area of differentness, thinking, management and communication. Call us at 813 598 9184.

Tampa, Fla. – The National Association of Tourism and Conventions (NATC-TV) covered the 4th International Business Summit that was held on March 11th here in Tampa Bay. The event bought together nine multicultural Chambers of Commerce, Coca-Cola, the Tampa Port Authority, and other corporate sponsors. The NATC knows it witnessed something that will inspire the world to collaborate and cooperate with Tampa Bay’s business community,  not only to prevent chaos but create a beloved community. In short, the NATC knows it witnessed a model for unlocking the potential of the global economy.

Therefore, on Friday March 26th 2010 at 7pm, the NATC will be broadcasting this event on www.natc-us.com so that the world can see its vision reflected in the summit.

The NATC says the reason why it is sharing the exclusive coverage with the world with so much passion and conviction is because in times of great racial and international conflict along with explosive economic tensions at home and abroad, the world needs to see overwhelming American leadership and direction. The International Business Summit in Tampa Bay was an example of how American business can be a symbol of liberty and prosperity throughout the world.

Moreover, the NATC asks itself with will happen to Wall Street, the Federal Reserve, corporate America, and the commercial real estate industry if all Americans and the rest of the world didn’t see what happened in the summit. The answer to this question was so frightening the NATC said to itself it had better share what happened in Tampa Bay and do it in a hurry.

That’s why everyone should go to www.natc-us.com on Friday, March 26th to view the highlights of the annual International Business Summit. Let’s all see how we can reshape America’s potentially great business institutions to create more of a people centered global economy instead of a profit centered global economy.

For Immediate Release
Contact: Donald Hallback
813-625-0103
Email Donald@natc-us.com
Website www.natc-us.com

• British-American Business Chamber: www.babctampabay.org
• Caribbean-American Chamber of Commerce: www.cacctb.com
• Chinese-American Chamber of Commerce: www.ccctb.com
• French-American Business Council: www.framco.org
• International Business Board: http://ctr.usf.edu/ibb/
• Indo-US Chamber of Commerce: www.indo-us.org
• Tampa Hispanic Chamber of Commerce: www.tampahispanicchamber.com
• Philippine-American Chamber of Commerce. www.paccoftampabay.com
• Russian-American Association: http://russianamericanassociation.org
• Scandinavian  Trade Association: www.scandbalt.org
• Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce of Tampa Bay:www.tcctf.com

Preamble

Diversity is defined in a broadest sense by TBIBC. The bi-national Chambers of Commerce and Trade Associations primarily bring the resource of (a) bi-national life experience and (b) new or wider connectedness to the West Central Florida economy.

TBIBC believes that differentness of all types is an economic resource. Diversity of gender or thought style, hobby or generation, occupation or religion, disability or nationality, language or personality type, veteran or parental status, industry background or learning orientation, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation, networks or cultural knowledge… each different orientation, set of life experiences or perspectives offers wealth for our economy.

Organization Name: _________________________________________________________________
Contact Person: ____________________________________________________________________
Email: __________________________________________________________________________
Tel (Office): ___________________ Tel (Cell)___________________ Fax: ______________________
Address: _________________________________________________________________________
City: _________________________________________ ZIP: _______________________________
Preferred Chamber Contact(s): _______________________________________ (Not required to win)

The Selection Committee is looking for Diversity, Collaboration and resulting Prosperity.

Diversity

Selection Criterion: Nominees looked for, supported and leveraged human differences as an effective business and economic resource.
The Selection Committee is interested specifically in any actions that took people or organizations out of their existing comfort zone(s), towards new behaviors or systems, using diversity (of any type) as problem solving or growth strategy.

Evidence of diversity might include:

• a diverse staff – in terms of gender, race, culture and ethnicity, national origin, religion, language, gender orientation, veteran status, thought style etc.
• diverse management – if the organization is large enough, this diversity will be seen at varying levels of responsibility.
• a relaxed atmosphere around the issue of diversity and inclusion.
• an awareness of the value of differentness and of the road blocks that differentness can create in economies. This will show in systematic use of strategies such as small or minority business supplier programs, mentoring of minority talent (e.g. women, racial minorities and unusual thinking styles), soft landing programs for new US residents, training in understanding the cultural differences between occupational groups, divisional, organizational and regional cultures, multi-national cultural preparation for those visiting other cultures on business etc.
• support for community projects that promote the acceptance and celebration of differentness from an early age (e.g. www.communitytampabay.org)
• creation of a community matrix or environment that is welcoming to difference (e.g. support for soft landing programs, development of an environment where diverse people and communities may thrive etc.)
• other evidence of diversity in this category.

Concrete examples:

_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Please feel free to add additional pages or evidence in support of your application.

Collaboration

Nominees encouraged collaboration between diverse people or groups to achieve business or economic objectives. The Selection Committee is interested specifically in on-going or systemic examples of collaboration, or successful culture change where collaboration is becoming (or has become) entrenched in an organizational culture. If management is consciously driving growth towards collaborative systems or processes, or supporting a collaborative culture where this is appropriate for their business and industry, this meets the criterion of Collaboration.

Evidence of collaboration might include:

• the emerging of new products and/or new services, suitable for either existing or new customers,
• process and systems improvements that arise from multiple sources within the organization,
• an innovative culture,
• easy cross-functional communication,
• openness to new ideas, irrespective of their origin,
• high employee engagement,
• a strong employment brand,
• low staff turnover relative to the rest of the organization’s industry.
• other appropriate signs of a collaborative environment.

Concrete examples:

_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Please feel free to add additional pages or evidence in support of your application.

Prosperity

Nominees achieved real measurable results, in terms of top-line revenue or cost-effectiveness (bottom-line profitability) as a result of their active investment in diversity and collaboration.
Evidence of prosperity arising from collaboration and diversity might include:
• new or increased revenue streams from innovative products or services, or from the development of new markets by innovative and collaborative processes,
• new or increased revenue streams developed by collaborative and innovative marketing, or as a result of collaborative networking, especially through diverse demographics,
• bottom line profit increases as a result of cost-effectiveness. This may be because of more efficient processes, or systems improvements, brought about by innovation and collaboration. It may reflect improved productivity resulting from team engagement, improved understanding and cross-functional communication
• improved productivity and execution from attracting and retaining talented people (because of being seen as an innovative, collaborative and diverse organization)
• cost-effectiveness from lower staff turnover (but should be resulting from high employee engagement, not from recession fears)
• products or services that make the region more attractive to diverse demographics.

Concrete examples:

_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Please feel free to add additional pages or evidence in support of your application.

Appendix: Further examples/ideas

Diversity

• All project teams are pre-assessed to ensure sufficient diversity of thought style.
• Diverse teams use regular process analysis to ensure that minority members (members of minority ethnic, gender, unusual thought-style groups etc) are heard. (This example illustrates that “minority” simply means statistical minority- e.g. in a predominantly female group, a minority group simply means men, who bring a different set of life experiences, world views and assumptions to the group.)
• Sales teams have concrete, specific annual multi-cultural community networking goals, and training in cultural diversity.
• The organization reviews the local soft-landing program when conducting an innovation brain-storm.
• A company with a foreign branch, manufacturer or call center operation sets goals to meet with the relevant bi-national Chamber and attend events to understand their international colleagues. (This example illustrates that the award is not only about Chambers and Trade Associations that are part of TBIBC.)

Collaboration

• The organization established or made good, economically-beneficial use of a supplier diversity program, perhaps with small, local, women-owned, minority-owned, veteran-owned etc businesses.
The metrics are in line with, or above, the benchmark 7% savings achieved by NASA, Disney etc.
• Projects were measurably more successful than previously, as collaboration and communication improved between different business levels, silos, regions and/or divisions.
• The organization reached out to other industry players, perhaps through regional structures, to find ways to grow in ways that were not possible alone.
• Deliberate collaborative efforts have led to organizational rebranding, new products, new services, process improvements, staff engagement and retention, or other successes.

Prosperity

• An organization in the Tampa Bay/Lakeland/Sarasota/Bradenton region worked with a bi-national resident or bi-national resident group, to establish successful trade, manufacturing, innovation or any other cost-saving or revenue producing initiative that would not have been possible without collaborating across differences.
• A cross-functional group in an organization has measurably improved a process, solved a problem or worked together to create a new service/product or marketing campaign. Their different resources (perhaps including networks) were combined in a way that achieved unforeseen, positive results.
These results are visible in ‘hard’ income increases, real cost reductions or other measures such as share value, company expansion, market share, job creation etc.

Please contact glynis[@]c-psolutions.com, or the presidents or administrations of any of the Chambers if you need assistance in applying for consideration for the award.

Please note that the judges’ decision is final, and the TBIBC Board cannot enter into any discussion about the award choice after the final judgment is made.

Yet they are all one story. Someone, somewhere is saying “me! give me more… and more… and more”. There is a never-ending stream of takers, hands stretched out for more. Often, when the accounting is done, the hands belong to people who own more houses than they can live in, more cars than they can drive, more clothes than they can wear… but they want more.

It seems self-evident to me that these takers and grabbers do not understand economics. They confuse prosperity, which brings long-term comfort and security, with riches, which guarantee little except fear.

Prosperity is always community based. Personal prosperity and success require a safe, affordable and well-organized environment that supports other competent people, who can be partners in maintaining prosperity.

This type of environment includes schools, workforce education, reliable infrastructure, healthcare, transport systems, law and order etc. This all costs money, but when many can contribute to the economic base, the cost burden can be shared in a manageable way.

In a prosperous community, people know that it is in their interest to spend time and talents to have a good, secure life, but also worthwhile to invest in the well-being of their economic area.

The opposite approach, of “gimme gimme, more more” results in some people grabbing as much of the economic pie as possible, and holding on to it fiercely. Those who succeed in grabbing as much as possible (irrespective of need or ethics), then experience fear. Will someone grab it back? Is there a new tax, a litigator, a desperate thief, or a conman around the next corner?

All energy is then spent on defending one’s piece of the pie, rather than making the whole pie bigger, or the community base more prosperous.

There are two important casualties of the grab-as-much-as-I-can philosophy. These are trust and collaboration. This is especially significant because the new economy is being built largely by those who are willing to share knowledge and creativity.

Many problems today are complex, and demand a high degree of collaborative intelligence, and mutual give and take. The grabbers-and-runners short-circuit the whole process of innovation and growth, and make it much harder for others to stay the course in collaborative and trusting relationships.

Sometimes, I find that people recoil from helpful collaboration. They’ve been bitten before, and are looking for the catch, waiting for the snake to appear in the open hand offering ideas and support.

I’m not sure what we most need to learn: economics, ethics or history. Perhaps all three. But we need to learn it soon, and we also need to find some way of embedding the lesson in our community.