dr rebel: i have to collaborate with the rebel in our team, but it's damn hard. how can we make it work?
leave a heart if you are curious about the answer to this question!
rebels can move mountains for you but you need to understand them a little to let that magic work. they can be stubborn and opinionated (i know 😅), but they have the biggest hearts. once you learn how they work and what drives them, working with them will be super inspiring, and you’ll learn many new things.
the core qualities of a rebel are:
#1. curious: ask questions, judge less, crave novelty, remain open to different perspectives
#2. creative: cultivate serendipity, connect ideas, turn problems into opportunities
#3. courageous: dare to be themselves, take ownership, and speak up when everyone else remains silent
#4. care: determined to achieve the best and most sustainable results and always striving to improve things even further
with the core quadrant matrix of daniel ofman, you can identify the rebel’s pitfalls and when they get super frustrated.
here are the five things you need to know about rebels:
1/rebels are curious. they ask questions, don’t judge too much, and remain open to different perspectives. they explore and discover new stuff, leading to many interesting fresh insights. however, they can go in too deep and get off track. when that happens, give them the feeling you are taking them seriously, help them to note down these insights for later use, and bring them back to the main subject again. remarks like “we don’t have time to think about that” can drive them insane.
2/rebels are creative. they cultivate serendipity and can connect ideas with ideas and ideas with people, leading to surprising ideas and concepts. whenever they encounter a problem, they reframe it and turn it into an opportunity. however, they can also come up with irrelevant or inappropriate ideas and have difficulties controlling their impulses. remain open to their creative new ideas and help them to find the practical business side of their ideas (e.g. with a business model canvas). whenever they present you with new and raw ideas, you will piss them off with questions such as “is it proven?” or “where is the data?”.
3/rebels are courageous. they dare to be themselves and say what needs to be said, but no one else will. when they see a problem, they feel a strong urge to solve it and take ownership of it, even when it is not in their job description. however, they may act too swiftly and take too much risk. rather than stop the ball from rolling, help them to clarify responsibilities and create a team to make it happen. phrases like “you’re so pushy” and “you only do this because you want attention” really frustrate them as they have a deep urge to make things better (and are not driven by their ego).
4/ rebels care. they are determined to achieve the best and most sustainable results and always strive to improve things, even when everything seems to work fine. thus, they may be too perfectionistic and act as a know-it-all. just be honest with them when they show this behaviour. they can handle that. but never say “why bother?” or “this is good enough”, as this will annoy them.
5/ rebels have the biggest hearts. they may be quirky and awkward and can express themselves quite bluntly now and then. but remember that they are passionate about improving things, and bureaucracy and office politics make them cranky. rebels are not like you, and that is a good thing 🙂
do you have a burning question for dr rebel?Â