The Diversity Icebreaker: Changing the World One Seminar at a Time: An Interview With Bjørn Ekelund

We invited psychologist Bjørn Z. Ekelund to participate in our global leader interview series for a wide variety of reasons: his trail-blazing work in assessment, his contribution to global interpersonal processes and promoting the success of global leaders, and his personal efforts as a well-respected global leader to resolve society's grand challenges and sticky global problems. Ekelund, founder of the Human Factors AS consulting firm, reflects on the history and contributions of the Diversity Icebreaker assessment instrument and seminar. The instrument, a short questionnaire that maps personal preferences for communication and interaction, was endorsed by one of the world's leading certification bodies, Det Norske Veritas (now DNV GL). To date, the Diversity Icebreaker has been translated into 25 languages and utilized in both large and small organizations in 75 countries with over half a million people. Human Factors also trains and works with global collaborators and partners, many of whom are engaged in change efforts with global leaders who address some of world's most wicked problems.