Why Every Office Needs an Outsider 81
Research has shown that having an oddball team member not only gives you someone to make fun of, but also leads to better decision making. Researcher Katie Liljenquist, says having "socially distinct newcomers" on a team can help it perform at a higher level. Team tension is crucial, and shaking up the same old crowd is the way to create it. "You can imagine if you work in an office and you've got this outsider like Dwight Schrute who walks in and a lot of his ideas resonate with you. Your fellow in-group members are hearing this and thinking, 'Wait, you agree with Dwight?' That can be really uncomfortable and socially threatening," she says.
Terrible camera work (Score:4, Interesting)
Whoever was shooting that video, please... put down the camera and walk away. You clearly don't know what you are doing, and it sickens us to watch you. Either that or take your anti-spasmodics. I don't know how you managed to do it, but the most interesting bits - the stopping and starting - you managed to effectively miss. Did you even know what your subject was or why it would be interesting? Apparently not. Go home, please.
Re:Outsiders don't have to be assholes (Score:5, Interesting)
While I also agree that Dwight is a poor example, sometimes the outsider does have to be an asshole.
The only way I've found to break through an echo chamber is by being enough of a jerk that everyone gets jolted out of their little world for a while.
Re:Outsiders don't have to be assholes (Score:5, Interesting)
Exactly. The perfect outsider is the one who is socially acceptable, technically competent, but isn't scared to ask 'Why are we doing this?' When you have a group of people that think the same, always agree, and don't deviate from the norm, you won't grow. If you have one person that frequently asks why or enjoys being the devil's advocate, then you get get change. Without change, you can never grow from where you are.
Of course, some people are just asses. And those people need to be, uh, wiped off the books.
So to speak.
aka Diversity (Score:1, Interesting)
Actually TFA is too narrow. The real key is avoiding a hegemony. From the Stanford Business School:
In fact, the worst kind of group for an organization that wants to be innovative and creative is one in which everyone is alike and gets along too well," she says. And the key to making nearly any kind of diversity work is managing it well.
http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/research/hr_neale_groupdiversity.shtml
Re:Having been an outsider many times (Score:3, Interesting)
Woohoo! No shit! I thought I LOVED my last job. Got laid off (aka canned) basically for "not conforming." Was devastated, really didn't see it coming. Spent three months out of work, which was terrifying in this economy. Even though I'm usually pretty confident in my abilities, this time it really shook my confidence.
But... Got a job in January (Of all months!! It's tough to get a job in January in a GOOD economy!) with a very well known company, and although I dropped "in title", my actual work responsibilities are far more - Like architect/lead engineer.
Just put my first app (Which I wrote all DAL/BLL/Presentation layer, with much kudos to the DB guy who I worked with - he's been with the company long enough to actually know the data of the company, without which I would have failed miserably! I can write stored procs all day long, but there's the harder part of actually knowing the data.) for the new company into production yesterday, did a presentation for really upper management today - and they were ECSTATIC about it!!! I was really amazed, having been the "bad kid" for way too long at the last place.
My confidence is back, I just got a second guy (contractor for now) to start on my "team" yesterday who had been out of work for 5 months, so I also get the warm fuzzy of helping out a guy in need. (And never knew him until yesterday, he moved over 1000 miles to take the job, so no "nepotism" type stuff going on.)
And, I've heard the old place is really having a lot of trouble now. (Best of luck to them, really! They are deep down the wrong path.) So although I wondered if my career had come to a complete halt when I was terminated, instead it was the best thing that's happened in a long time. So I totally get the "I've been released from prison" feeling! :)