The issue is that the commonly accepted definition of diversity is always about having different gender, race and sexual orientation represented.
The important thing though is to achieve diversity of thought, which is a positive thing since it brings a larger set of creative ideas to the table.
In the SF Tech Bubble, people look diverse but they all think more or less in the same way as the "Culture" part of hiring will remove anyone not fitting in the same mold. Also as soon as ideas get out of the spectrum of acceptable ideas, people get shamed and learn to shut up or lose their job.
I think that the current conversation going on about diversity completely misses the point. It mainly became a good way for companies/CEO to demonstrate a morale high ground.
I think it is hard to not say that part of Silicon Valleys success is because of diversity and that part of the diversity is as simple as "gender, race and sexual orientation". I isn't a political correct things to say but Japanese, Korean and to some extent Chinese people are generally better organized, harder working and smarter than Americans. But they are also to a large extent also culturally isolated. Which makes their societies full of social rules. We can certainly question how much of a meritocracy the US is, but it certainly is to a large extent compared to the mentioned countries.
It isn't even that diversity itself being new perspectives, it is that non-diversity excludes people. And in highly uncertain activities it is all about how many people you can bring to the starting line. Success is its own filter, if you put a largely arbitrary filter in front you end up with a corresponding decrease in success. Which create a situation similar to the social rules in Asian countries.
If there will be any regret in Silicon Valley in 50 years I don't think it is going to be whatever the current political issue is, but that it didn't acquire a larger share of the global tech market. And that is certainly a factor of competition, equality, diversity and other things that give more people the chance to do just that.
The important thing though is to achieve diversity of thought, which is a positive thing since it brings a larger set of creative ideas to the table.
In the SF Tech Bubble, people look diverse but they all think more or less in the same way as the "Culture" part of hiring will remove anyone not fitting in the same mold. Also as soon as ideas get out of the spectrum of acceptable ideas, people get shamed and learn to shut up or lose their job.
I think that the current conversation going on about diversity completely misses the point. It mainly became a good way for companies/CEO to demonstrate a morale high ground.