Evaluative Diversity and the Board

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/bl.30051
• Date: 01 July 2016
• Author: Chris Santos‐Lang
• Published date: 01 July 2016

4 BOARD LEADERSHIP

“Plurality which is not

reduced to unity is

confusion; unity which does

not depend on plurality is

tyranny.”

Blaise Pascal (1623–1662). Thoughts.

XIV Appendix: Polemical Fragments.

The Harvard Classics, Volume 48,

Part 1, Translated by W. F. Trotter.

New York: P. F. Collier & Son

Company, 1909–1914. New York:

Bartleby.com, 2001, http://www.

bartleby.com/48/1/14.html

Evaluative Diversity

and the Board

by Chris Santos-Lang

In the second article of this issue of Board Leadership addressing the board’s job

of creating both plurality and unity, Chris Santos-Lang introduces the concept of

evaluative diversity.

Why should a board include more

than one member?

“Evaluative diversity” is the kind of

diversity that might improve decision

making. Because it is the kind of diversity

that predisposes people toward contrary

choices even when they have the same

information and goals, it is also at the

heart of many disagreements, including

the liberal/conservative divide. This arti-

cle will first explain evaluative diversity

using the GRIN model as an example,

then discuss implications for board com-

position and organizational culture.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

The GRIN Model of Evaluative Diversity

What follows is an analogy that I hope will help to explain the different

approaches of the GRIN model diversity types. Suppose you are trying to park

your car; you’ve found your spot, but the other cars are shifted to the right:

How you handle this situation will depend upon your GRIN type.

If you evaluate relationally, you will park midway between your nearest

neighbors. You might do this automatically and might even call it “empathy”:

Events

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(continued on page 8)

Group Decisions, exploring why and

how boards arrive at “one voice.”

For more information, please con-

tact: ceo@policygovernanceassociation

.org

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