Crazy is a Compliment
The power of zigging when everyone else zags
Perhaps I am getting a little cynical as I read more and more business books, but does it always have to be about the money? It feels a little like the old truism to “cherchez la femme” or “the butler did it”. Saving or making money for the organization is the reason that everything gets justified. Yes, I understand the financial responsibilities of an organization (even not-for-profits aren’t negative operators). But still, can we focus on the people for once? That said, it’s worth looking beyond the subtitles in this book. The cover wording might to profits, bottom line and dollars. But in the pages you get the real power of productivity — it’s the people. Without deeply engaged employees, organizations will fall flat, and then where are we? Robotic overlords? True productivity comes from caring about people, helping them to create their meaning at work, creating work communities where people come together, leading through generosity and creativity. A narrow focus on the numbers can lead to dishonesty and insincerity. An integral focus on the people — well now we’re talking!
This was a very energizing book — the cover page alone is worth spending some time with, as the design is pleasantly offkilter, yet still retains functionality and readability. That might actually be a useful metaphor for the entire book: there is nothing inherently “crazy” about the book itself — it’s a standard book with pages that turn in the usual direction, a table of contents with the correct pages, and so on. Yet the stories — at least most of them — are provocative and insightful. Some of them you may already know (Henry Ford, Je Bezos), and some are very likely to be new (Globant, Sara Blakely). Rottenberg categorizes her entrepreneurial “crazies” into dierent personalities, but I didn’t find this to be terribly helpful, to be honest. I don’t need another typology in my life. What I did enjoy was the potential inspiration from the success stories. Now, you may know that I’m a bit of a cynic when it comes to these success stories — where are all the failures? The winners get to write history, clearly. I’d love to read about “crazy” failures too — because sometimes zigging is a good thing and zagging gets you into heaps of trouble. There is a very important wisdom and judgement that comes along with being successfully “crazy”. But that said, the success stories do provide insight and you might get some ziggingly good inspiration and practical ideas.
Lisa Sansom, an accomplished trainer and certified coach, offers professional services, from a basis of applied positive psychology, in leadership, interpersonal communications, change management, team dynamics and other areas of organizational effectiveness. www.lvsconsulting.com.
Originally published in volume 16 issue 6 of Your Workplace magazine.
