The buzzwords across many organizations have consistently included the word “innovation” in some form or fashion. In the increasingly complex and ever-changing world we live in today, markets are demanding that companies bring the agility that innovation encourages. So, where is the disconnect in bringing that innovation to market? Perhaps we think innovation is a thing to obtain or buy? Or maybe it is magic and only falls on those who have been gifted it like Harry Potter? The reality is much less grandiose. Innovation originates in people, across teams, and throughout cultures to bring in the new and undiscovered (Gino, 2018). The leaders who create an open culture to leverage the potential of their employees will embark on the impactful journey of leading and cultivating the outliers into rebel talent!
Professor Francesca Gino, the author of Rebel Talent, defines a rebel as an agent of positive change (2018). Now, most of us may view rebels as deviants or pirates against the “way things are done here,” and there may be some truth in those views. Consider having a game-changing playmaker of a divergent pirate in your arsenal to chart the unnavigated waters where treasures abound. Rebels are often misunderstood and underutilized treasures to change and innovation, and a leader can either harness them for the organization’s benefit or lose them to the competition. So how do you know if you have rebels on your team, or better yet, how do you create an environment where rebel talent can thrive?
Let’s take a look at a standard normal curve or distribution (Figure 1), sometimes known as a bell curve because of the bell shape it makes. It displays a “normal” distribution of a phenomenon in a given sample size and, when read, provides a generalization of a variable across this sample. The standard normal curve is a statical visual distribution used in science, research, manufacturing, etc. When we talk about people and talent development, many organizations apply the concept of a standard “normal” curve as an expectation for the organization’s population, where the middle may represent the average in performance, the most common type of person, or the consistency of a process (Bhandari, 2021).
While the standard normal curve may fit sustainable, predictable, and repeatable models, it can also drive a shift to the middle and become the blanket of mediocrity that stifles innovation and change for a competitive advantage. Statistics call this shift to the middle a regression to the mean, where over time, an outlier gets pulled into the center (APA, 2022). The change to the middle is also present in social psychology convergence theory, which states that group actions occur when like-minded people come together, fostering a group-think mentality (APA, 2022). Whether you want it to be that way or not, your organization will likely default to a regressive model that absorbs and conforms outliers unless the leader knows why and how to protect the rebel outlier development space.
Leadership is the process of interaction between leaders and followers emersed in a situation, working to achieve a common goal (Northouse, 2021, p.6). Contrary to the trait approach, there are many different types of leaders, there are many kinds of followers, and both are important to the leadership process (Northouse, 2021, p.353). Types of leaders may include servant, adaptive, inclusive, and follower types, including those from Kelley’s Typology passive, alienated, conformist, exemplary, and pragmatist (Northouse, 2021, p.356). To seek out rebel talent, we will shift focus from the leader to the follower.
Where Might You Find Your Rebel Talent? The leader must understand that followers are a significant part of the leadership equation and, therefore, must seek to understand how the followers distribute from active to passive and from critical thinking to not thinking critically (Northouse, 2021, p.356). The rebel is a non-conformist, curious, barrier breaker that is likely to find themselves in the alienated and pragmatist followers’ groups from Kelley’s Typology (Figure 2) (Northouse, 2021, p.356). The thoughts, ideas, and behaviors of those on the fringes can be frowned upon by those in the middle, which requires the leadership imperative for shifting deviance into competitive disruption. An outlier is an anomaly among the group, and in statistics are disruption measurements. Still, in life, these outliers could be viewed as a diamond in the rough or a rebel in the making. Although we may find outliers who have already converted themselves into rebels, it is equally important to understand how to cultivate the environment for rebel talent to blossom.
Simon Sinek has demonstrated the power of a few innovators pulling the curve of the majority along in his famous TED Talk How Great Leaders Inspire Action (2009). Sinek speaks about the tipping point for change using a bell curve and the distribution of an idea. Sinek refers to the Diffusion of Innovation Theory by Everett M. Rogers from his 1962 book that sought to explain how people adopt a new idea, behavior, or product over time (BU, 2019). The adoption of the new is outlined (Figure 3) in the five adopter categories: innovator, early adopter, early majority, late majority, and laggard (BU, 2019). And Sinek is not alone in his broadcast of this theory; Malcolm Gladwell, who wrote the book The Tipping Point, speaks all about the momentum created by the few outliers in the bell curve distribution (2000).
Here is how it works. When the iPhone came out, it was an innovative product that opened up new ways to do things. Well, the early adopters were those that waited in line to get a phone, the early majority bought one about three to six months later, the late majority bought one a year or more later, and the laggards are still using landlines (Sinek, 2009). Now we all have a little bit of each adopter category in us depending on the idea, behavior, or product being distributed. Still, some of us embrace an innovator and early adopter mind to everything we do. These are your rebels, and they are your innovators and early adopters trying, failing, and trying again to promote change and progress.
Leader Cultivation of the Rebel Space. Change is scary for most of us, yet change and learning are the inevitabilities of our lives, meaning they are part of us whether we like it or not. In Professor Gino’s research of rebel talent, she identified core elements of rebel talent and how to cultivate them (2019).
Here is how to develop a space for rebels in your organization.
- Encourage employees to seek out the new and seek it out yourself.
- Support constructive descent, where if everyone is thinking one way, direct a team to think the opposite.
- Use open and collaborative language such as “yes, and” rather than “butt” and “could do” rather than “should do.”
- Focus on strengths for what people (including yourself) bring, rather than weaknesses and what you don’t bring.
- Adopt a beginner’s mind to learn and relearn things from different viewpoints.
- Change your perspective and see problems as challenges, challenges as opportunities, and constraints as the struggle that births creativity.
- Get your hands dirty, dive in, and show the team you are in the struggle with them at every level.
- Foster happy accidents of colliding opposites to create a culture of curiosity, understanding, and cross-functionality.
In the awakening of our society through Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI), we must acknowledge that teams of diverse thought, gender, race, and ethnicity, to name a few, are the competitive advantage of innovation. Creativity and innovation come from the collisions of ideas, and the best ideas arrive from diversity. Sharing in these spaces requires a culture and environment of safety to be free from judgment for sharing vulnerability for growth. Although you may wonder what the outliers in your organization are saying, it is time to acknowledge your curiosity, lean in for understanding, and cultivate a path to turn that outlier into your organizational rebel.
References
1. American Psychological Association (APA). (2022). APA Dictionary of Psychology. Retrieved from https://dictionary.apa.org/.
2. Boston University (BU). (2019). Diffusion of Innovation Theory. Behavioral Change Models. Retrieved from https://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/mph-modules/sb/behavioralchangetheories/behavioralchangetheories4.html.
3. Bhandari, P. (2021 Jan 19). Normal Distribution | Examples, Formulas, & Uses. Scribbr. Retrieved from https://www.scribbr.com/statistics/normal-distribution/.
4. Gino, F. (2018). Rebel Talent. Harper Collins. New York, New York.
5. Kelley, R. E. (1992). The Power of Followership: How to Create Leaders People Want to Follow and Followers Who Lead Themselves. New York: Doubleday.
6. Sinek, S. (2009). How great leaders inspire action. TED: Ideas worth spreading. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=en.
7. Gladwell, M. (2000). The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. Little Brown and Company: New York.