How do you go about when you’re looking to break the mold? When you are searching for new ideas as your team faces new challenges? That’s just one of the many fascinating challenges Adam Grant writes about in ORIGINALS: HOW NON-CONFORMISTS MOVE THE WORLD.
What to expect from Originals
This book busts myths about creativity and about the people we commonly regard as “originals”. It shows you how to champion new ideas, and how you can nurture originality in yourself and others. Non-conformists can be annoying, are not the teacher’s favourite pupils, and therefore have often learnt early to keep their ideas to themselves. Adam Grant shows how they can use their non-conformist streak to improve their organisations, by learning how to speak up more effectively about what doesn’t work and how it could be improved.
What we love about it
Like all of Grant’s work, this is a great read. Every time I put down this book, I could hardly wait until I would be able to pick it up again. It inspired me about what I could do differently in my teams and what my clients could do differently in theirs. Originals is full of research and is delivered through inspiring stories.
I wish I had read this book 20 years ago when I left university and hit walls left, right, and centre in work environments I struggled with – and vice versa.
Last but not least: Reading this book, I felt as if I was listening to someone witty and informed at a dinner party – enjoying how he continued to bust my ideas about the world. Hard to beat!
Why this matters to leadership in organisations
Leaders who struggle with disrupters, dissenters and frustrated complainers, might take a second look at the difficult people on their teams. The key message is: Don’t discard the people in your organisation who annoy you by calling the status-quo into question. Instead, help everyone, including yourself, to think outside of the box. Invite different perspectives, dissenting voices, and novel ideas. And then practise distinguishing good ideas from bad ones. It’s not that hard.
