Most teams have someone who thinks a bit differently. Many effective teams have a few. Sometimes that’s good and sometimes it causes serious problems.
In a brainstorm, they might produce ten ideas while everyone else is still wondering how to structure their thoughts, or waiting to see what others say. Some are brilliant, some are baffling, or a combination of the two. They dress a little differently, follow their own passions unashamedly, and have a habit of questioning things everyone else doesn’t notice or doesn’t care to notice anymore.
In the right environment, and with some self-awareness and empathy, they can be the most interesting person in the room. They can also be the most frustrating, because despite a lot of good ideas, none of those ideas turns into reality. They have big ideas that they would love to see implemented by other people.
Naturally Different
The unconventional style is one way of describing one of the “dark side” personality styles: everyday patterns that can help or hinder us at work, depending on how strongly they show up and where. Its extreme form resembles a clinical pattern of eccentric thinking and unusual perceptions. Most people with an unconventional style are nowhere near that. They simply have their own unique approach to life.
They tend to rely on their own understanding of how the world works, and it is often a rich, intense, and sometimes quirky one. For some, being different is unconscious. For others, it is a deliberate avoidance of anything conventional or ordinary. Either way, they are unlikely to change it to suit other people.
The Case for the Outsider
At their best, people with this style are interesting, different, and fun to be around. They are abstract and creative thinkers, and they can be remarkably tenacious, pursuing an idea long after others have given up, often with very little support.
They also perform an important function in teams. When everyone shares the same assumptions, they are the outsider on the inside. They ask the question that nobody else thought to ask, or offer an approach that breaks a deadlock. Think of the trainer whose odd analogy is the one that finally makes a complicated process click for a struggling new starter, or the analyst who notices that a problem everyone has been solving the same way for years could be approached from a completely different angle. A team without anyone like this risks drifting into comfortable groupthink.
There is evidence that unusual thinking and creativity overlap, but it is more nuanced than the stereotype of the eccentric genius. A meta-analysis by Acar and Sen (2013), combining results from 45 studies, found only a small overall link between creativity and personality dimensions that capture unusual perceptions, magical thinking, and eccentricity. However, there is some evidence that those who tend to experience life imaginatively and unusually can also be more creative.
The ability to put unconventional ideas into practice, though, can be more challenging, and the link with productivity is even more difficult to achieve.
Good Ideas Beyond the Brainstorming Session
The downside of this personality style is rarely a lack of ideas. The problem for team members is often the lack of follow-through. When someone’s energy isn’t channelled effectively, unconventional people can have lots of ideas, but nothing gets off the ground.
They can be easily distracted, drawn off on tangents, and quickly bored by tasks that don’t fit their view of the world. Often, the routine parts of a project, such as documenting ideas, updating progress trackers, following templates, and managing a project through to completion, can feel unbearable. They can also be stubborn or disruptive when things don’t go according to their plans, preferring their own way of doing things even when the team has agreed on another.
There is a social cost as well. People who are seen as eccentric are not always taken seriously, even when they are right. As I discussed in a post on how people enable dysfunction at work, the unconventional colleague may see a problem clearly but struggle to gain traction, because their protests are easily dismissed as another eccentric idea.
Distance can make this worse. In a remote team, the unconventional colleague can drift further into their own projects without anyone noticing until a deadline arrives. Left alone and out of the loop, people with this style can quickly spin off into their own world, building something fascinating that nobody asked for. In this case, the right adjustment is not stricter control, which they will resist, but more regular contact to make sure their passion and energy are pointed at the right target.
None of this means they lack motivation. As with people who are lower in conscientiousness, the motivation is there, but it may be challenging for them to apply it to the right priorities and connect with what the rest of the team needs to be productive.
Meeting Halfway
Unconventional people can be successful, but they will be most effective in a workplace where people accept their quirks, and where they in turn make some effort to fit in and build relationships based on mutual respect. That works in both directions:
- Pair ideas with finishers. An unconventional thinker alongside a methodical colleague, someone who may struggle with “good enough” in the opposite direction, may be able to produce better results than either working alone. For this to work, the relationship must be mutually beneficial and respectful.
- Pick one idea. If you recognize this style in yourself, choose the idea that best matches your team’s priorities and see it through before starting the next.
- Translate, don’t dilute. Explain new ideas in terms of the problems your colleagues already care about. Being different is easier to accept when it is clearly useful.
- Make space without losing the thread. Managers can give unconventional people room to explore while agreeing on a few clear checkpoints for delivery. Externally set milestones and guardrails tend to be necessary.
When they meet others halfway and align their talents with the team’s priorities, unconventional people can be fun, vibrant, productive and innovative colleagues.
In a workplace, the challenge may be to direct that energy productively and prosocially. Part of doing that may mean remembering that they have plenty of time to pursue other creative pursuits outside of work.
