{"id":1349,"date":"2024-01-11T18:49:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-11T18:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aidanmccullen.com\/?p=1349"},"modified":"2024-01-11T18:49:00","modified_gmt":"2024-01-11T18:49:00","slug":"from-black-sheep-to-black-ops-unleashing-latent-potential","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aidanmccullen.com\/?p=1349","title":{"rendered":"From Black Sheep to Black Ops: Unleashing Latent Potential"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\u201cIf you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.\u201d\u200a\u2014\u200aMaya\u00a0Angelou<\/em><\/p>\n

Picture the scene. An employee who doesn\u2019t fit the mould eventually finds a role and a manager who understands him. The culture, the boss, and the work provide an ideal environment for him to flourish. Eventually, his boss is headhunted elsewhere, is promoted or retires and the new configuration exposes the employee. His new manager is a number-cruncher, a left-brainer, unable or unwilling to enable his potential. She devotes more time to financial metrics and reporting than to the future growth in products, services, or customers. After months of pain, ostracization, and often gaslighting, he is moved on or gently<\/em> encouraged<\/em> to do so. He finds himself not involved in any meaningful projects. He finds that he is not invited to any meetings. He no longer has any resources at his disposal.<\/p>\n

His new manager doesn\u2019t believe that he adds any tangible value, so she labels him as a poor fit for her new configuration. She consults his colleagues (who highly rate him), but they are hesitant as they do not want to be guilty by association, so they go with her \u201cbetter judgement\u201d. As Nate Silver aptly observed, \u201cWhen we can\u2019t fit a square peg into a round hole, we\u2019ll usually blame the peg.<\/em>\u201d <\/strong>But what if the round hole should be square or cater for multiple\u00a0shapes?<\/p>\n

Fostering a creative culture, providing additional support, and creating immersive experiences might engage employees and unlock the latent potential of square pegs. However, we try to force them toward the centre of the bell curve and in doing so we lose their potential.<\/p>\n

Organisational Einstein Syndrome?<\/h3>\n

Created with\u00a0AI<\/p>\n

Albert Einstein, the archetypal genius, did not conform to the traditional trajectory of child prodigies. His delayed speech until age 5 challenged the conventional understanding of intellectual development. Einstein\u2019s reluctance to speak was grounded in his simple rationale\u200a\u2014\u200ahe saw no reason to. This phenomenon of delayed speech was later coined \u201cEinstein Syndrome\u201d. Avoiding the stigma of labels, he later emerged as one of the most influential scientists of the 20th century, challenging our perceptions of conventional milestones.<\/p>\n

Another genius, one of the world\u2019s greatest theoretical physicists, Richard Feynman, won the Nobel Prize in physics. In his book, \u201cSurely you\u2019re joking, Mr. Feynman!\u201d, Feynan shares the critical intervention of his former high school physics teacher, Mr\u00a0Bader.<\/p>\n

Created with\u00a0AI<\/p>\n

Recognising his lack of stimulation, Mr. Bader presented Feynman with a unique challenge. One day, Mr Bader told him to stay after class. \u201cFeynman,\u201d he said, \u201cyou talk too much, and you make too much noise. I know why. You\u2019re bored.<\/em><\/strong> So I\u2019m going to give you a book. You go up there in the back, in the corner, and study this book, and when you know everything in this book, you can talk\u00a0again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Henceforth, in every physics class, young Feynman paid no attention to what was going on with Pascal\u2019s Law or whatever the rest of the students were doing. He was up in the back, engrossed in his book on Advanced Calculus.<\/p>\n

This decision changed the trajectory of Feynman\u2019s education and life, illustrating the transformative impact of kindling unstimulated minds. These minds are often labelled as troublemakers, lazy and les enfants terrible<\/em><\/strong>, but once suitably ignited, they can quickly be transformed from black sheep to black\u00a0ops.<\/p>\n

Bird\u2019s Sheep: Pixar\u2019s\u00a0Pick<\/h3>\n

Created with\u00a0AI<\/p>\n

Brad Bird, the visionary director behind Pixar\u2019s \u201cThe Incredibles\u201d and \u201cRatatouille,\u201d discovered, boredom, frustration and under-stimulation can be a powerful catalyst for creativity.<\/p>\n

For the making of the highly-grossing hit, \u201cThe Incredibles\u201d, Bird was faced with the seemingly impossible task of animating realistic flowing hair. While we take this for granted today, flowing hair was a technical marvel back then. Rather than relying on conventional thinking, Bird sought out the discontented and unorthodox thinkers within Pixar\u200a\u2014\u200athe \u201cblack ops\u201d\u00a0team.<\/p>\n

Bird\u2019s directive was clear: \u201cGive us the black sheep. I want artists who are frustrated, who have another way of doing things that nobody\u2019s listening to.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>This decision led to a revolution in animation, proving that unconventional minds, organised as a focused \u201cblack ops\u201d team, can crack the most challenging problems. The success of \u201cThe Incredibles,\u201d achieved at a lower cost and with more intricate animation, demonstrated the power of embracing the unconventional within a creative\u00a0team.<\/p>\n

The parting message of this Thursday\u2019s Thought is that every organisation has black sheep. These gainsayers are often (mis)labelled as naysayers. They are misunderstood, reviled, attacked, gaslit and ostracized. However, if enabled, if stimulated, and if unlocked, those who challenge the status quo can crack complex challenges. Nurturing unconventional thinkers may be the key to new realms of creativity and innovation.<\/p>\n

Thanks for\u00a0Reading<\/strong><\/p>\n

For more on \u201cBlack Sheep Thinking\u201d check out our latest episode of the Innovation Show with Todd Dewett, PhD on his book: \u201cDancing with Monsters: A Tale About Leadership, Success, and Overcoming Fears.\u201d Just published\u2026<\/p>\n

https:\/\/medium.com\/media\/05166f8b72e8e70798a1d33b83f890a6\/href<\/a><\/p>\n

From Black Sheep to Black Ops: Unleashing Latent Potential<\/a> was originally published in The Thursday Thought<\/a> on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The post From Black Sheep to Black Ops: Unleashing Latent Potential<\/a> appeared first on The Innovation Show<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIf you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.\u201d\u200a\u2014\u200aMaya\u00a0Angelou Picture the scene. An employee who doesn\u2019t fit the mould eventually finds a role and a manager who understands him. The culture, the boss, and the work provide an ideal environment for him to flourish. Eventually, his boss […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1350,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nFrom Black Sheep to Black Ops: Unleashing Latent Potential - Aidan McCullen \u2013 Keynote Speaker Ireland | Innovation & Leadership Expert<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/aidanmccullen.com\/?p=1349\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From Black Sheep to Black Ops: Unleashing Latent Potential - Aidan McCullen \u2013 Keynote Speaker Ireland | Innovation & Leadership Expert\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cIf you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.\u201d\u200a\u2014\u200aMaya\u00a0Angelou Picture the scene. 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An employee who doesn\u2019t fit the mould eventually finds a role and a manager who understands him. The culture, the boss, and the work provide an ideal environment for him to flourish. 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