Are You a Tempered Radical?
Thanks to Penny Scott on Bowen Island, BC who tipped me off to this today, posted at FastCompanyMagazine. (How does she find these things?) Tempered Radicals: How Everyday Leaders Inspire Change at Work (now in paperback), by Debra Meyerson, of Simmons and Stanford business schools……Meyerson defines tempered radicals as employees who operate on a fault line. They are committed to the organization that they work for. To some measure, moreover, they want to advance on their employer’s terms; their company’s success is theirs too. At the same time, though, they are at odds with their company. Marginalized by gender, race, or ideology, they identify with causes that defy the dominant culture. While they feel bound to their organization’s goals, they also aim to stay true to their own personal ideals.
And so they pursue change, constantly challenging the status quo. It is often a personally torturous path. Because tempered radicals pursue goals that are rooted in their own identities, their efforts tend to be passionate. But because they also happen to sympathize with their organization, the changes that they introduce are mostly incremental. They are ambivalent, cautious catalysts, and they are content with small victories that, over time, lay the groundwork for something grander. “This is not a revolutionary style,” Meyerson says of the tempered radical’s approach. “But it is the stuff of change. It is the true content of leadership.”Can’t help but wonder what could happen if we were able to get a few hundred Tempered Radicals together for a couple of days of OpenSpaceTech. Might write a whole sequel in just three days and catalyze all kinds of other connections and results. Wouldn’t that be fun?