Unreasonable Innovation

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” ~ George Bernard Shaw

I’ve always loved this quote, and I try to live by it. Although people who work with me may find this hard to believe, I don’t think I’m unreasonable enough often enough. I should rock the boat more than I do, but I have found that there’s a fine line between “unreasonable man” and jerk, and I sometimes have a hard time finding it. If only it were easier to be both provocative and persuasive.

Some people are naturally gifted at this. They challenge our thinking and open our eyes to new possibilities in ways that are exciting, scary, exhilarating and somehow approachable too. We have a name for these people in our innovation practice. We call them Provocateurs.

Whenever we can, we invite Provocateurs into our innovation process. We’ve built a good network of them, and we love having them join workshops, brainstorms and innovation teams. They bring a valuable outside perspective and collaborative spirit that make our vision clearer, our ideas bolder and our progress faster. 

The traits that make a good provocateur are hard to define, because the people themselves are unique and varied, but here are a few key things we look for:

Unbounded Curiosity - Provocateurs are idea explorers. They don’t limit their curiosity to a single domain, and they always surprise us with the breadth and currency of their knowledge and inspirations.

Exogenous Experience - Being an alien has advantages. It enables a good Provocateur to spot incongruencies and opportunities—things that don’t make sense, things that we take for granted. And the things we take for granted are often great opportunities for innovation. 

Heroic Boldness - The best Provocateurs want to change the world, and they get excited about every opportunity to create meaningful, positive change. They take every assignment and help us see it as an opportunity to Add Good to our world. 

The Provocateur, the unreasonable man or woman, is essential to innovation, but they rarely find a home in the organizations that most need them. When you find them, hold on to them. Tolerate the unreasonableness and encourage it; because only by cultivating the unreasonable, will you achieve change.

- Mark