Cognitive Diversity And Its Benefits To Agile Teams: A Pentatonix Case Study

Having a cognitively diverse team, makes your organisation more innovative and creative in their approach to problem solving. Here is how…

Sometimes when we talk about the strength in diversity of teams at the workplace, people tend to often mistake it with teams with differences in age, ethnicity or gender but is that really all that drives a diverse team? I think not.

So what then drives diversity in Agile teams? Cognitive Diversity.

And what is Cognitive Diversity? Well, it is the bringing together of varying people with different thought patterns and ideas in their approach to problem solving when faced with situational judgements in better providing life-time value to their users.

As a Pentaholic, I have been following very closely the activities of my favourite Acapella group “Pentatonix” for a while now and while I watched a majority of their covers for fun, since I got started on the product management path, I began visualizing things a little differently. I will explain:

Most people who have come across Pentatonix’s songs at any time like I have will admit that their technique and approach to harmonization, creativity etc is top notch but today we wont be viewing them as just an acappella group but as an agile team focused on product development (Cover Songs)

• Mitch and Kirstin (both sing Tenor and Mezzo Soprano respectfully), may in this situation be tasked to deliver unique front-end techniques end users will enjoy. In the group, these two powerful and extremely talented singers often deliver the more colourful and sultry moments when it comes to tone and harmonization within the group
• Matt(replacing member) and Avi(former member) as the case may be (both sing Bass), may in this situation be tasked to deliver backend functionalities complimenting and supporting the entire group in creating and maintaining its rhythm, melody and harmony all in one: they tend to sync best with the percussionist of the group.
• Kevin(who is the percussionist of the band), may in this situation, be tasked to work in database administration ensuring responsive access to all manner of important information (beats) the band will need in rendering effectively to the users.
• Lastly, we have Scott (who sings Baritone in the group), but will work best in this situation as the product manager. Why? Because, he does a majority of the band’s arrangements and usually lays the foundation in these arrangements when he starts out any cover(more like the risk-taker of the band).

As the PM here, Scott works well in setting the pace for the entire development team to push out arrangements (products) to end-users taking back feedback to continue the process.

From the outside, without anyone realising the amazing power this team has when they come together in delivering value to users, they are indeed a diverse group:

• Mitch and Scott are both queer
• Matt and Kevin are both of African-American descent
• Kirstin is Latino
• Avi is Jewish

But being just diverse wont cut it. Mitch, Kirstin, Matt, Kevin and Scott are individually different and talented, can stand well on their own but also understand what makes each unique work best and how best to allow each unit shine per whenever needed.

What makes this team Cognitively Diverse is based on the different styles each person brings to the group, how they all come together using their ideas and creative mindsets to develop features their users will enjoy and find value in.

Pentatonix serve users who love to authenticity in music, top-tier harmonization, the wow factor and who enjoy the unique nature of the human tone that forms acappella.

Because Pentatonix usually remake covers, they still try to stay on queue with the original song, but add a unique touch which sets them apart when users interact with their products.

Pentatonix under the watchful eyes of Scott Hoying (acting as the Product Manager in this situtation) develops MVPs and not fully fledged products whenever they release these covers. They look at what people have done in the past, and create a better remake — including elements reminiscent of both the past and present, and making up for styles original songs lacked (competive analysis).

For years, this is what Pentatonix has been serving its users however differently as the years progressed — keeping up with trends but staying true to the vision that informed the original cover itself, today, they have managed to build user loyalty on each product (cover) release, putting out their first original album or first fully fledged “product” — “The Lucky Ones” which is performing great.

Before taking this step however, they were sure to have achieved product market fit and with a cognitive team knowing when to shine, when to step back, when to come in together and when to hit home with it’s users, they were able to grow successful products with each release.

Finally, there is a lot of focus on the importance of diversity in problem solving today. It won’t be adviceable to put people with the same approach to problem solving in a group and expect growing results.

When you place people who can bring different observations to the table and offer unique insights to problems sets, the company ends up being the better for it in the long run.

Also as a PM, it is best that even if your current team doesnt show signs of Cognitive Diversity, you work towards creating an enabling environment that encourages members of your team to share their thoughts and ideas without feeling undervalued. By creating value in differing contributions, you create confidence and open up the team to new possibilities.

I wrote this article for fun honestly but if you have corrections for me, you are free to reach out to me at omololaodunowo@gmail.com. I am always open to learning, unlearning and relearning.

I am a product manger fresh out of Product school looking to intern either remotely, in Nigeria, Africa or in Diaspora. If you got value from reading this article, you can check out my portfolio website, or just follow me on my social media handles via LinkedIn or Twitter.