Unleash the Troublemakers
How to Develop and Coach Your Innovators, Disruptors and Change Agents
“Troublemakers are the pioneers of change.”
In a recent podcast episode of How Leaders Lead with David Novak, Uri Levine, founder of Waze, revealed that he had been fired from every corporate job he ever had, partly because he was seen as a troublemaker who pushed too hard for change. Unfortunately, this story plays out in the corporate world daily. While there is a growing interest in the concept of corporate misfits and troublemakers, many companies continue to struggle with their low tolerance for non-conformist thinking and ideas.
This week’s newsletter explores ways in which companies can unleash their productive troublemakers to drive innovation and transformation. Before we do that, we must differentiate between productive and toxic troublemakers and determine what to do with the latter.
Productive Troublemaker vs Toxic Troublemaker
Productive troublemakers care about the company’s success. They see and feel customer pain points and product shortcomings, and they are driven by the changes that need to be made to address them. They may know they are pushing too hard, but the drive to help solve problems for the greater good outweighs the consequences of damaging their image or reputation. On the other hand, toxic troublemakers operate with hidden agendas. They push back for the sake of pushing back, show no regard for the impact they have on their team or colleagues, and don’t take accountability for their actions.
It is essential to keep productive troublemakers and find ways to channel their angst and fire in a way that supports the company and preserves their reputation. Toxic troublemakers, on the other hand, must be removed immediately as they stand in the way of transformation and innovation.
Now that we have differentiated between the two types of troublemakers, how can you unleash your productive troublemakers to support your transformation agenda instead of pushing them out and losing the potential impact they can make?
1. Help your troublemakers navigate better!
“You can’t change what’s going on around you until you start changing what’s going on within you.”
Your troublemakers might come to you with enthusiasm to act immediately on a problem or idea. To coach them through it, challenge them to build the case, provide you with well-documented supporting evidence, and give them the time, resources, and support to do it. Often, troublemakers want to act fast, but they want the idea to succeed more, so if you help them shape the idea better, they will feel supported.
Don’t dismiss your troublemakers. Have real conversations with them and be open to their ideas. On the other hand, help them see how their current approach is coming across to others, understand their pain, and show them how to navigate forward.
2. Support your troublemakers with coaches and mentors.
“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”
One of the best ways to support your troublemakers is to help them find the right partner to help them navigate the organization's dynamics and present their ideas better. Find a peer or mentor for these troublemakers that has complementary skills that will bring out the best in this individual and ensure that this person is patient and genuinely invested in the success of your team member. You should also consider investing in them by providing them with a professional coach who can help develop their approach.
3. Give your troublemakers a seat at the table.
“The troublemaker is not the enemy of the powerful, but the conscience of the powerful.”
I have heard many senior leaders often ask, "Why didn’t somebody tell me sooner?" when faced with a crisis. This is usually followed by the sideways glances of different people in the meeting who were either the troublemakers who tried to speak up, or the people who knew they had spoken up but were shut down along the way.
To unleash your troublemakers, you need to create forums for them to share their thoughts with management. Too many organizations control access to decision gatekeepers.
Senior leaders can create round tables and coffee chats with employees that remove the distance between levels. Listen, acknowledge, and investigate when troublemakers challenge you. Often, these troublemakers are the canaries in the coal mine, saying what many of their colleagues are too scared to say.
4. Create a better talent management system.
“The key to managing unique thinkers is to provide them with the freedom and resources they need to explore and innovate, while also keeping them focused on achieving the organization’s goals.”
Many organizations have a talent management system that supports business as usual. However, if your company is focused on transformation and innovation, you have to manage your talent differently. When it comes to supporting your troublemakers, build criteria into your talent management system to identify people who have these productive troublemaker characteristics and shape their talent development. Be intentional about building career paths that can champion these troublemakers and support them to bring innovation within your organization, before you lose them and their ideas to someone else.
For example, consider creating a mentorship program or innovation incubator that pairs troublemakers with senior leaders who can help guide them. This will not only help these individuals grow and develop their skills, but it will also ensure that the company is benefiting from their innovative ideas.
5. Give your troublemakers space to deliver.
“The key to innovation is to let go of the old ways of doing things and embrace new ideas and methods.”
Create space for your troublemakers to develop their ideas, create business cases, or experiment with the concepts that are troubling them. Empower them with the tools to bring these ideas forward and acknowledge them for doing so. In one of my previous roles, we created innovation days where people could submit innovation ideas and the top ideas (voted on by the whole company) would be flown in to present their concept business case to management and function team leads. Many of these employees' ideas ended up going into some form of mass production because they came from the people who were closest to the opportunities and problems.
Google gives its employees 20 percent time to explore and work on projects or ideas that show no promise of an immediate payoff. I think we could all argue that Google is not short on innovative or transformational ideas. By giving your troublemakers the space to experiment and create, you'll likely see a similar outcome in your organization.
Closing thoughts
We often hear about the mistakes made by companies like Blockbuster, Sears, or Kodak. However, in all these cases, a lack of listening to troublemakers played heavily into their ultimate collapse. If these companies had listened to their troublemakers, we might still be enjoying a Blockbuster movie on a Friday night, waiting for our Sears delivery to arrive, or snapping selfies with our kPhone.
In conclusion, unleashing your productive troublemakers can drive innovation and transformation in your organization. Support them by helping them navigate better, providing coaches and mentors, giving them a real voice and seat at the table, empowering them to take risks, and celebrating their success. By doing so, you can create a culture of innovation that sets your organization apart.
