Getting Crazy
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Run to crazy people. Avoid comfortable people.
Teammates, who think like you, are irrelevant. They take up space and suck oxygen. Reserve chairs and air for crazies. Invite in those who see differently.
Punish silent agreement and reward dissent.
Strong leaders seek options, alternatives, and diversity. Weak leaders build weak teams filled with empty heads and spineless politicians.
Lean into crazy not away, when building teams.
The people closest to me drive me crazy. They move faster or slower, take more risks or fewer, take more time to think or less, than I do. Their caution, or lack of caution, for example, drives me nuts. Why can’t they be like me?
A team of crazies must:
- Fight nice. Belligerence, arrogance, and rudeness are not allowed on effective teams. Nasty is easy. Good crazy is nice. Bad crazy is plugging your ears and screaming la la la la to block out others.
- Get over it. Clinging to offenses grantees mediocrity.
- Respect each others gift. Respect them now; like them later.
- Develop maturity. Immaturity demands agreement.
- Share values. Crazies may look at things differently but core – agreed upon behaviors – protect and nurture craziness. The most important conversation new teams have is how will we be together.
Great crazies:
- Learn. Crazies who won’t learn are truly crazy.
- Adapt. Someone who won’t adapt is a jerk, not strong.
- Share vision. Nothings worse than a team of crazies pulling in different directions.
- Work hard.
- Produce results.
- Enjoy craziness.
- Grab an oar and row once decisions are made – whether they got their way or not.
Goal:
The point of diversity – craziness – is rich decision-making not balance. The “B” word tastes like vomit in the back of my throat. A team of passionate crazies produces extraordinary not average or balance.
How can leaders invite craziness and create cohesion on teams?
Oh Really???? Hehe
Well then that is great news!!!
What time you coming over???
I got the popcorn and first thing up watching Bob Chapmans Defining Moments video, then Simon Sineks Understanding People and Business!!!
Then we will get this joint jumping!!!!
SP Back to the Present!!!! Hehe
I’ve already watched the videos you mention. But if you have lots of butter on the popcorn, I’m all in!
Well then where is the commentary on the videos?
I have never heard you ever say u watched them.
Would love to hear detailed opinion of what Bob has done and is doing with Truly Human Leadership at Barry Wehmiller?
I look, read, search, turn over rocks everyday looking for better and more effective ways to work with Gods kids.
No business I have EVER seen gets results like Barry Webmiller.
None, ever!!
Now small companies with 5 employees can say they got 72% of their employees happy, BW gots 7000.
Then add going from 20 million to 1.5 billion and 15% annual dividend to shareholders.
Ok Dan if Leadership at the end of the day has anything to do with results show me another company in America making more money with more happy employees.
Then sing their praises and get as many people you can to follow their lead. Their strategies and techniques.
Doesn’t that make sense?
I want to help people make tons of money, treat people like who they really are, Gods kids and serve customers the say they ought to be treated like Gods kids.
So show me another company with size accomplishing these things. I can’t find one anywhere.
If these are not the end results of the Leadership you are steering the folks here on the blog are, what are they?
Crazy enough for ya????? Lol
Meant with deep respect and rigorous honesty.
Hope my direct approach doesn’t offend. Over the years my ability to character assassinate is world class developed. If that was my intent I would not be asking questions for answers I sincerely want to know.
Plus I encourage the folks who work for and with me to constantly challenge and question me. Only way I know if I got any answers that make any sense.
I request being held accountable.
Thanks,
Scott
Thanks for the invite Scott. I read and view lots of things I never mention. Good things. Perhaps one day they will come up.
I only hire crazies 🙂
That’s because you’re crazy…so you’re hiring people like you!
So true.
Love your crazy shenanigans, and I would add to it all a healthy dose of improvisation. Nothing inspires me more than the spur of the moment “nut” that shakes up and brightens my day like you just did! 🙂
Thanks Al and great hearing from you this morning. I know what you’re saying. That idea that comes out of left field rocks my world. Maybe we should try to have at least one “Left Field” moment every day.
Dear Dan,
“Punish silent agreement and reward dissent” is the powerful concept. I think silent agreement is more based on interest of some people. These people have their own interest that focus on protecting their interest. Dissent people generally come with right idea. They create disagreement in decisions taken by some people. And any decision based on only some people may not be sound decision. Dissent people by their nature, may not be so talkative, and that is why they are sidelined. However, if they gather confidence to speak openly and frequently what they think and believe, it can pose challenge to those who try to make decisions based on their interest.
I appreciate your point of rewarding dissent. Leaders can pay attention to dissent and appreciate their points from time to time. Leaders should act as balancing act, taking points of some people and dissent as well. This will provide a good environment for healthy discussion. This can create cohesion in teams.
Thanks Ajay. Very practical.
I appreciate you adding that it’s not all about dissent. In the end some type of agreement, decision, or perhaps even consensus must result.
Hmmm I guess I never thought of it that way. LOL
🙂
We have to watch out– it’s easy to want to quash crazy right out of the gate. “That won’t work!” “We’ve tried that!” “I’m not exposing us to that kind of risk!” Giving crazy time to ferment will sort the good from the bad, and putting crazy to work will show you why it hasn’t worked before. You can’t put “sane” people in charge of “crazy” ideas.
Thanks Justin… “You can’t put “sane” people in charge of crazy ideas. Great add. Something that someone who is a bit crazy would say!
You had me with the crazy socks photo! My daughter wears crazy mismatched socks all the time! At age 10, she is a leader! She reminds me to “be bold.” Great post. Leadership is all about stepping out of your comfort zone! Proud to be one of the crazies!
Love this Dan! Just tweeted it on PPM4U 🙂
I am not so sure about this. I have worked with someone for several years who is crazy. It has been neither easy nor productive. I have had much better working relationships with like minded people. Like minded does not mean complacent or unadventurous. It has given the team, confidence to explore, experiment and approach work creatively without fear of being stabbed in the back without notice.
enjoy,
Larry
*Larry Coppenrath* Cell 206-883-6700 lcoppenrath@gmail.com http://www.lfcjr.com It is easy to make a buck; it’s a lot tougher to make a difference. – Tom Brokaw
Amen… Nothing is worse than working with a hand picked gaggle of robots who avoid anything “crazy” like the plague, and defend their (insert the usual here) crap from abject fear of ever experiencing anything non-standard.
I like your point about rewarding crazy. It is very important to let the team know it is okay to be crazy. Too often people have been told that if they are crazy, they will be sent off to a padded room never to be heard from again. Make them know that crazy is the new sane.
Absoluetly love your post, Dan. There is a single issue, I see quite rarely true good crazy people, most of them either act in theatrical way to gain attention, either they are after some other material gain and when they see it in their pocket chill down. One must be prepared to encounter such situations.
Ernest Shackleton hand similar advice http://goo.gl/heIy2Q
Thanks for the link. Shackleton’s journey is amazing. I have enjoyed Dennis Perkin’s work on this top. I’m glad you are pointing to it here.