Twelve Weird Ideas That Work

After my last post, I got several inquires about the complete list of weird ideas that work, from my 2002 book, Weird Ideas That Work. I have a soft spot for this book, perhaps because it was the first book I wrote myself, and also because it resulted from a talk that I gave for six or seven years before I wrote it up. I can still see – in my minds-eye – all the reactions that audiences had to the ideas as I developed them, the excitement in some cases, the boredom in other cases, the disdain for the most absurd, and the fantastic arguments that people had with me and each other.

As I’ve said before, my aim is not to be RIGHT at all times but to get people to THINK, and when I am successful, this book – and the talk that goes with it -- does that. In  other words these are strong (and evidence-based) opinions, weakly  held. 

I picked ideas that would – from logical standpoint – increase the range of ideas (or variance) in a company, that would enable people to see things differently, and break from the past. I also emphasized that increasing variance and the like is great if you want creativity (say developing a new product or service) and awful if you want to do something tried and true (say building or  flying a 747).  There is a Harvard Business Review article called the Weird Rules of Creativity you can buy if you are interested (although it costs about half of the whole book), but if you want free stuff, check out my interview on tompeters.com, download this article from the Ivey Business Journal, or see Polly LaBarre’s Fast Company article.

Two quick points.

First, I don’t necessarily believe any of these ideas. Well, except number 7.  BUT I can marshal a pretty strong conceptual and empirical case for each and give you examples of creative companies and teams that use each one.

Second, creativity happens when an organization, through some means, brings in varied ideas, sees the same old things in new ways, and breaks from the past.  These are just some ways to make it happen; they may help you or may not work in your organization at all. My suggestion is not to view them as a recipe, but as a menu. I suspect that if you tried to do all of these in one organization, it would be nightmare. Like eating the entire menu instead of meal at restaurant, it will make your organization sick. But there might be four or five that will work for you, at least for the places, people, and periods when you need creativity.

Here is the list (note I say 11.5, but there are really 12)

1. Hire slow learners (of the organizational code).

1 ½. Hire people who make you feel uncomfortable, even those you dislike.

2. Hire people you (probably) don’t need.

3. Use job interviews to get new ideas, not to screen candidates.

4. Encourage people to ignore and defy superiors and peers.

5. Find some happy people, and get them to fight.

6. Reward success and failure, punish inaction.

7. Decide to do something that will probably fail, then convince yourself and everyone else that success is certain.

8. Think of some ridiculous or impractical things to do, and then plan to do them.

9. Avoid, distract, and bore customers, critics, and anyone who just wants to talk about money.

10. Don’t try to learn anything from people who seem to have solve the problem you face.

11. Forget the past, especially your company’s successes.

Finally, as a summary, if you look at these, a reasonable conclusion is that, although creative places can be a lot of fun at times and being happy is linked to creativity (sort of, I’ll explain in a later post), note also that Creative companies and teams are inefficient (and often annoying) places to work.

Comments

[Bonnie]

Fantastic work done Bob, I have recently started a new company these tips would surely help. Thanks a ton

[PEMarketing]

I work at persistent engagement marketing we specialize in helping customers think outside the box. Wow, you really pushing the idea of thinking outside the box. Do you have any suggestions for SEO I work in Los Angeles and believe me you need to think outside the box here. http://www.persistentengagement.com/

[Dentist Los Angeles]

I agree and disagree with your thought that creative companies are inefficient and sometimes annoying- I think they CAN be but they can also be a lot of fun. There have to be limits to what can happen in these places, and guidelines and discipline need to not be ignored. But I think that a pleasant work environment can make for more productive employees- look at Google. It's supposed to be one of the best companies to work for and it's supposed to be a fun place as well, and they certainly aren't going bankrupt.

I liked #1 on the list by the way, I'm not the fastest learner but that's because I like to fully understand processes, once I have them down I think I'm a great worker.

-Rosie

[Online Furniture Stores]

Some of those are just bad ideas and will probably make you unhappy. I really like some of them and even have a past of doing #8 planning ridiculous or impractical things (it's is a great way to over come boredom or to cheer you up).

[mothers rings]

Those are weird ideas, there was a quote I read last night. If the idea doesn't seem insane at first, then it won't work out.

[Translation Los Angeles]

I like "Decide to do something that will probably fail, then convince yourself and everyone else that success is certain." I am a pessimist and I always need to be 100% sure that something will succeed, otherwise i dont do it. I will keep this in mind, and next time I want to try something new, I will remind myself of your advice.

[SEO Los Angeles]

Its really interesting to know that there are such ideas that exist.

[Jonty]

Really nice read....well it can act as an eye opener for all the organization. Once a startup it value everything, once established ASS HOLES start pouring in. Everyone should study this & look for ass holes around themself or in itself also .

[Rohit Tewari]

i am thinking to write something on this topic; i have weird ideas myself and i think that there are many people who exists with the same opinion...what i feel is if we give a kind of platform to all these people by giving them help in some way or the other .. i think we can achieve what people cant even think of doing it....what do you say sir?

[Humor Man]

Are you writher ?

[Bob Sutton]

Ann,

I guess I like the 11 and 1/2 better too, and really, the idea of hiring people who make you squirm is closely related to hiring slow learners, who make insiders squirm. The story of the half idea, by the way, is that I was finishing up the book around the time that the film "Being John Malkovich" came out, and as you might recall, the main character in the film worked on floor 7 and 1/2, which inspired my editor at The Free Press to suggest 11.5 ideas. It was silly, but kind of fun.

[ann michael]

PS - I still like that there are 11 1/2 - not twelve. I always thought that made your perspective even more special!

I've only gotten through the first few so far on my blog.

[ann michael]

I love these ideas. I started going through them yesterday a few at a time.

Bob - this book was my introduction to the study of innovation in organizations and I haven't stopped reading and experimenting since - THANKS!