Driving Change From Inside Your Workplace (Yes, You Can!)

The response to last week's post made me realize it's time to write about New Radical Innovators (New Radicals are people like you and me who've found ways to put the skills acquired in our careers to work on the world's greatest challenges; for more, see archived articles.)

Innovators are men and women who stay inside their field or organization and drive change from within. There are plenty of examples of New Radicals who stayed put and changed the world around them, and Ed Sutt is one of my favorites. An engineer with Stanley Bostitch, he was deeply moved by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. He knew he wanted to do something to help, but wasn't sure what. Not long after, he had what he calls "front row seats" to hurricane damage on a Caribbean island. And it was there that he had his light bulb moment. "In house after house," he told me, "I realized it wasn't the wood that gave way, but the nails that were holding it together."

So, Ed was seized by an idea: he wanted to create a better nail. A gazillion prototypes later, the HurriQuake nail was born. The head is 25 percent bigger than on traditional nails, the shank is spiral, and there are angled barbs to keep it in place, even under the extreme duress of a hurricane or earthquake. And the HurriQuake fits into standard nail guns.

I asked him about the additional cost of using HurriQuake nails to build a house. "About $15." And the cost of making the world a little safer? Priceless.

Most of the New Radicals I've worked with - and written about - are Activists or Entrepreneurs. But I believe that Innovators are going to be the ones to watch. If you think about it, we can't all leave our jobs. We can't all become ecowarriors, goodwill ambassadors, aid workers, or solar energy salespeople. The world needs plumbers and firefighters, sanitation workers and bus drivers, ballerinas and IT specialists. Someone needs to keep the trains running, and the lines of communication open. How will environmentalists get to conferences or aid workers get supplies into the hands of people who need them without infrastructure? Yet each of these people wants to do good, too.

What if we could all become New Radicals? What if each of us could help drive our organizations to world-saving heights? Does that sound like I'm wearing rose-coloured glasses? Consider this: employers are going to have to find ways to embrace the New Radicals in their midst or risk losing them. It's no secret that millions of baby boomers are itching to reinvent themselves; a New Radical brain drain doesn't have to be the inevitable result. And organizations will have to accommodate them to meet the needs of those I call the Next New Radicals - people in their teens, twenties, and thirties who want to build meaningful careers from the get-go.

More about Innovators next Saturday. But in the meantime, I'd love to hear from those of you who are making inroads in this area. Or what your hopes and dreams might be.

Finally, many people wrote asking for a URL for President-elect Obama's transition team site. Here it is: www.change.gov. He's asking us to share our ideas.

Please comment below, or email me directly at [e-mail].

Comments

[curiousasheck]

No we all won't be Celebrities or the next Top Model or American Idol.

One of the wisest people I ever met was a janitor.

With an encyclopedic knowledge of everything that really matters.

A King of his own domain.

[NMO14]

As has been said so many times during the primaries, change is something you find in a piggy bank...

As we have seen, the Obama Admin. is relying heavily on those who don't symbolize change...ex-Clinton people...now, of course, I have no problem with many of them...except Rahm Emanuel, Laurence Summers, John Kerry and Madeleine Albright, but recruting old timers is not change.

[marijam]

Some words of caution. As a "change agent", an IT Specialist, I've found that you must go very slowly and lead people gently. Most of the time, plant your ideas and leave them to grow on their own. Let people think its their own ideas in the end. Don't push. Eventually, your ideas may grow to fruition.

Sometimes, the ideas will appear to die on the vine, only to sprout new growth in a time of stress for the team or the organization. Don't expect everybody to "see" what you see. As Obama has said, "Change is hard". I've also heard that he has said that "I understand if you are nervous and I will hold your hand". You may have to be willing to do that very thing, for as long as it takes. Watch out for back-stabbers and those who think they can only get ahead if you do not. Trust, but verify. Find those who are truly of a win-win mindset, that you can totally trust and bounce your ideas off of them first.