Lois Kelly and I have been talking with Rebels at Work for more than a decade. You would think there’s not much more for us to learn, but you would be wrong. Just in the past few weeks, I’ve accumulated a bunch of new “truths”, trenchant and often also poignant. Many were first said by other people; others emerged, as you will see, from recent headlines.
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Just becoming exhausted from trying to do something hard can be mistaken for cynicism. This is such an important consideration for Rebels at Work. Lois and I are often asked how does a Rebel know when they should quit, and I always answer, from personal experience, before people start labeling you as “cynical and negative.” Most people come by their cynicism “honestly” as a reaction to the frustration of a bad experience. Very few humans are born cynics.
But I think it is an even more important learning for managers of teams who have passionate staff determined to make a difference. Don’t let these folk try too hard. Help them keep the relationship between their effort and goals in perspective. A good goal for managers everywhere is to not create any new cynics in the workplace.Why do we have a special word—“activists”—for people who actually try to make a difference: labor activists, climate activists, LGBTQ activists? Does this imply that the default expectation for humans is that they should do NOTHING about problems in society?
“It’s the mortar, not just the bricks, that makes a building robust.” I met Margaret Heffernan, a businesswoman and writer, at a conference earlier this year where she shared this wisdom. In seeking great outcomes, “developing social capital—or strong empathetic teams—is far more important than hiring one exceptional candidate.” This squares with the advice Lois and I give Rebels at Work that building a coalition of supporters is an important first step in making change. Rebels often seek credit for their brilliant ideas; it’s only natural. But Rebel Ego can get in the way of Rebel Success. Another approach to consider is to position yourself as the mortar, the connective tissue, the person that builds a platform to collect and amplify the great ideas of your colleagues.
Don’t just do something. Stand There! I heard this from a good friend who trained in her youth to be an actress (she is now a doctor.) An acting instructor told her to stop fidgeting when she didn’t have a line of dialogue. This advice reminded me of the culture of “busyness” that permeates most company cultures. At CIA strong leaders were expected to respond quickly to solve “problems”. You were suspect if you wanted to pause to evaluate the situation and the possible unanticipated consequences of your intervention. Introspection is an undervalued tactic in most organizations.
Narcissism often wraps itself—and hides—in the language of innovation. The tragic loss of the deep submersible Titan highlighted this for me. The CEO of the company has been variously described as a cowboy, dismissive of criticism, and as possibly a narcissist. It takes a lot of self-confidence and talent to persevere as a Rebel at Work, to have the passion to see a new idea to fruition. But self-confidence can deteriorate into an unjustified feeling of superiority, for example. Make sure that you maintain a healthy support network of strong friends who will speak truth to you.
The Status Quo owns the measuring stick. Yup, you’re right, this is not a new idea. I’ve expressed it many times in the past. But last month’s tragic accident provides a compelling example of why metrics prove to be so difficult for innovators. The CEO argued that the standards of the regulators who approved submersibles simply could not keep up with his innovative new approach. This was probably true but in the end irrelevant—the Titan failed to meet basic safety guidelines. Instead of ignoring the Status Quo’s standards, the more appropriate response would be to work to incorporate the relevant metrics from the past. I know this is more easily said than done, but the most important parts of the innovation process will always be the hardest to accomplish. We just can’t dismiss coming up with useful, relevant metrics because it’s too hard.
If someone tells you that if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen, there’s probably something wrong with the kitchen. I believe I picked this up on LinkedIn from Fiona Tribe, who is by the way an excellent person to follow on work culture topics. It’s now become my favorite “bon mot” to share when I’m desperate to sound smart.
