An excerpt from Putting Our Differences to Work, a blog by Debbe Kennedy.

Have you noticed that what we need to solve our most pressing problems has been there all along? This is true with the powerful foursome of LEADERSHIP, INNOVATION, DIVERSITY, and INCLUSION. Although there is plenty of evidence that we have found value in each of these individual diverse elements of both business and society, traditionally we've handled each of them separately in our work, in our lives, and our thinking—if not by our words and processes, then certainly by many of our visible actions, day-to-day practices, and behavior. We just don't commonly think about them together. One simple validation came to me when I wrote my book. I intentionally looked at dozens of books and studies in my research covering these topics. One observation I made was that although each book made important contributions to one or more of the topics, I didn't find one book that addressed the direct and important interrelationship of this powerful foursome of leadership, innovation, diversity and inclusion and how they work together.

In my independent, as well as collaborative research and practical experiments with my long-time colleague, futurist and filmmaker JOEL A. BARKER for over a decade, these conclusions have been affirmed over and over again:

* It is clear, leaders at every level, in any organization or community or family, need to learn to see DIFFERENCES differently. It is a key differentiator for the twenty-first century.

* DIVERSITY fuels innovation, the "engine of growth." INCLUSION keeps the engine running at peak performance. 

* The fastest way and richest place for INNOVATION lies at the intersection of our DIFFERENCES. 

* An environment of INCLUSION fosters innovation, enables leadership, generates high performance, and expands contribution.

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