Protean Diversity: A Complex Adaptive Systems Perspective on Individuals within Organizations

Abstract

As organizations are becoming more diverse in terms of the sociological and psychological characteristics of their workforces, diversity emerges as an important issue in contemporary work settings. As a result, workforce diversity research has evolved significantly over the last decades. However, today there is still a consensus that the variegated contemporary organizational settings require scholars and practitioners alike to develop a more nuanced understanding of diverse employees. In this vein, this conceptual paper examines workplace diversity through a complex adaptive systems (CAS) perspective. We introduce the concept of protean diversity as an application of CAS to diversity research in order to explain how individuals act on their differences through the manifestation of personal and interpersonal dynamics. Our work contributes to organizational theory and practice by offering new ways to identify both research methods and managing techniques that scholars and practitioners may apply to study and manage diverse individuals as CAS.