nimbell (6/14/2013)
Dave Schutz (6/14/2013)
..."The personal courage to be different and the self-confidence to take the lone and often unpopular position are clearly basic characteristics of leaders in both management and technology....
All too often those who obey the rules and don't make waves are rewarded with steady advancement. The evidence suggests, however, that the most promising leaders are often the wild ducks, and that it might be wise to consciously look for talent among the ranks of the rebels.
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People choose to be different for many reasons, but some of them take this path because they see opportunities for improvement that the rest of us have missed."
- Watts S Humphrey
This reminds me of a bumper sticker: "Just because no one understands you does not make you an artist".
There is also the true statement "before you can break the rules, you must know how to use them". Our entertainment culture which has celebrated brilliant rule breakers has produced a generation that seems to think that throwing mud on everything we've learned through experience somehow equals success.
Disruptors are essential, but they must be the people who fully understand what happened in the past, and have a clear approach to improving things.
[Unfortunately too many 'wild ducks' are the the ones that migrate as soon as the weather turns rough.]
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-- FORTRAN manual for Xerox Computers --