In theory, a multicultural team should have many more creative ideas than a team made up those of all one culture. But in reality, multicultural teams are often stuck in even deeper ruts of tradition than mono-cultural teams, because so much of their energy is devoted to keeping the peace and learning how to communicate. Rather than coming with a fresh new strategy, the team just continues to do what they have always done because the “way we have always done it” is the least risky and requires the least amount of explanation.
![Driven by Difference: How Great Companies Fuel Innovation Through Diversity by [Livermore, David]](https://i0.wp.com/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51euCBRUHuL.jpg?resize=227%2C343&ssl=1)
In his book, Driven by Difference: How Great Companies Fuel Innovation Through Diversity, David Livermore of the Cultural Intelligence Center helps us understand what team leaders and team members on diverse teams need to do to create a climate and a process for true innovation.
As Livermore says, multicultural teams are not automatically more innovative.
![Women in God's Mission: Accepting the Invitation to Serve and Lead by [Lederleitner, Mary T.]](https://i0.wp.com/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41cYfWPXTaL.jpg?w=629&ssl=1)
This book is a summary of Dr. Mary Leiderleitner’s research into how women are serving and leading in God’s mission around the world. Her research was framed by two questions: 1) “What are diverse women experiencing as they lead in God’s mission? and 2) “What do they believe they need in order to do their best work as leaders in God’s mission?” These questions were answered by 95 women from 28 countries through interviews, written surveys, and focus groups. She includes a lengthy explanation in the appendix of her research methodology.
In the last number of years, many books have been published about how to engage and do evangelism among Muslim peoples. But few books address the specifics of how to help new believers from Muslim contexts grow in their faith while remaining in their Muslim communities and families. Given that some claim that up to 90% of converts from Muslim backgrounds reconvert back to Islam, discipleship and support of these converts is clearly a critical need in mission work among Muslim peoples.
![Contextualizing the Faith: A Holistic Approach by [Moreau, A. Scott]](https://i0.wp.com/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/519PdMWmPEL.jpg?resize=269%2C404&ssl=1)
Dr. Moreau is associate academic dean and professor of intercultural studies at Wheaton College Graduate School. He takes a ‘dimensional’ approach to contextualization, “an approach that deals with the whole life of the church and yet organized in a way that it could be taken in smaller chunks” (preface, ix). Moreau develops an approach to contextualization that goes beyond the intellectual or theological level.