7 reasons why every project needs an agile rogue
If you’ve got a great idea, you’ll inevitably meet some obstacles while attempting to make it happen. Most of the time, you’ll find your own way to navigate through the problems you encounter. But sometimes, ideas can become so utterly stuck within your business processes that they go nowhere.
Your unfinished projects make a mockery of the time and resources you’ve already invested into them. It’s not your fault–you’re doing all the right things. But no matter how many meetings you have, nothing happens.
Now, you could hire a management consultant from an established firm, who also has an MBA and six decades of experience. But there’s a good chance you’ll receive recommendations that you will have already considered. After all, it’s your business. You know the right ways to make things happen.
But sometimes the right ways to fix problems just don’t work.
Sometimes, it pays to hire a rogue to help liberate your ideas.
Here’s why...
1. They think differently.
Rogues operate outside of the conventional and established norms. They bend the rules, take shortcuts, and generally screw with the system. Which is a good thing, because your organisational systems and established ways of doing things are often the very source of your problems. Systems resist ideas.
It’s as Einstein once quipped: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” He’d know–he is one of the greatest academic rogues of all time. If he had been working as a physicist instead of a clerk, he’d have never turned academia upside down.
2. They’re not heroes.
The last thing you want is a hero-consultant from a big firm coming in and “putting things right.” Heroes blunder in to save the day. If there’s nothing they can save, they’ll make something up. And this means that they can zealously “fix” things within your business, before they know if it needs fixing at all. When the dust settles, you’ll be left wondering what happened, and who’s victory it is.
The thing to remember is that it is your business, and your ideas.
Rogues play a supporting role. They always case the joint first–spending time working out what the real issue is. They find pathways, disarm traps, charm guards and point the way, to help make your ideas happen. They can be heroic while letting you remain the hero.
3. They find the path of least resistance.
This is perhaps where rogues got their bad name. In an era where patience and hard work was is virtuous, those who took shortcuts or strayed from convention were frowned upon.
But in today’s fast-paced economy, it’s innovate or die. Sometimes, there isn’t time to do things the right way. Sometimes we need to find the best way, and the secret shortcut may lie hidden right beneath you. It takes a fresh, external perspective to help you discover it.
4. They’re objective-focussed.
When you’re trying to make an idea happen, it’s easy for you or your team to get distracted. Ideas get old very quickly, and the charm and allure of new ideas can distract anyone from the path of implementation.
Rogues, however, keep an eye on their mark. Remember–the system resists new ideas. And everyone’s busy, and there’s always fires that need putting out. But, if you’re looking to execute ideas and achieve objectives faster, a rogue can see through this and keep you on track.
5. They’re (somewhat) immune to politics.
Sometimes it’s that nasty subculture within your organisation that chokes the life out of any new ideas. Sometimes, the things that block your ideas from happening, are some of the very people you work with. You know what I’m talking about, but you don't want to point the finger.
As an external and objective operative, a rogue brings a level of diplomatic immunity into the job. They can highlight issues that would otherwise be denounced in a cross-functional or ego feud. And once these issues are in the open air, they can rapidly move things into a more productive space.
6. They work to strengths.
You wont see a rogue trying to do everything, though that’s what some leaders attempt to do. They work to people’s strengths. They unite diverse “specialists” to get things done. Think Oceans 11 or Mission Impossible–you’ve got the espionage girl, the lock-pick guy, the explosives-specialist, the techie-guy, the planted-agent, and so on.
There’s no reason your team can’t work like that too.
7. They question authority.
This is probably why people are uncomfortable hiring rogues–they’ll ask you questions. If you’re hiring a non-conventional consultant external to your industry or business, chances are they’ll ask you questions that seem dumb, or obvious.
If they’re a savvy operator, what they’ll be doing is testing your assumptions, finding those gaps and inconsistencies within your own belief systems on how things should be done. Many of us don’t realise that, as human beings, we are profoundly adept at getting in our own way. Taking on a rogue means you’ll rethink your thoughts on things (which is always a good thing).
Now, you’re probably wondering–who are these rogues?
In the gaming world, a rogue is someone who scouts ahead, disarms traps, picks locks and removes obstacles, so that the main adventure party can achieve their objectives. In the real world, you can think of a rogue as an external consultant who’s approach to achieving objectives isn’t limited by the conventional rules or established ways of doing things. A professional rogue will always operate with integrity, legality and ethics.
In the world of innovation, you can think of me as somewhat of an ideas smuggler. I get ideas where they need to go (reality) by helping teams bypass the barriers and obstacles that otherwise make their execution impossible. I don’t do ideas-generation and creative thinking per se–that job is best left to a lock-pick rogue, who helps organisations unlock the best ideas they have hidden beyond conventional thinking. But you get the idea (pun intended).
Why pay money for the same style of thinking, if all you’ll get are the same results?
If you want to solve problems and execute ideas faster–hire a rogue.
Jason Fox
Reader Comments (2)
7 reasons why every project needs an agile rogue - Remix
Engaging a professional rogue
If you’ve got a great idea, you’ll inevitably meet some obstacles while attempting to make it happen. Most of the time, you’ll find your own way to navigate through the problems you encounter. But sometimes, ideas can become so utterly stuck within your business processes that they go nowhere.
Your unfinished projects make a mockery of the time and resources you’ve already invested into them. It’s not your fault–you’re doing all the right things. But no matter how many meetings you have, nothing happens.
You could hire a consultant who has decades of experience. But there’s a good chance you’ll receive recommendations that you will have already considered. You are the one who actually knows the right ways to make things happen.
But sometimes the right ways to fix problems just don’t work. Sometimes, you need to engage a professional rogue to help you liberate ideas.
In the gaming world, a rogue is someone who scouts ahead, disarms traps, picks locks and removes obstacles, so that the main adventure party can achieve their objectives.
In the real world, a rogue is someone whose approach to achieving objectives isn’t limited by the conventional rules or established ways of doing things. They are agile and adaptive to change.
A professional rogue will always operate with integrity, legality and ethics.
Here are 7 reasons for engaging a professional rogue …..
1. They think differently.
The professional rogue’s work approach to achieving objectives isn’t limited by the conventional rules or established ways of doing things. They innovate to interpret the rules, they are constantly agile and adaptive to change, they take shortcuts whenever needed, and they frequently act to challenge the system. All of which is a good thing, because organizational systems and established ways of doing things are often the very source of problems. Systems are often persistent to resist ideas and change.
As Einstein once quipped: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” He’d know–he is one of the greatest academic rogues of all time. If he had been working as a physicist instead of a clerk, he’d have never turned academia upside down.
2. They’re not heroes.
The last thing you want is a hero coming in and “putting things right.” Heroes blunder in to save the day. If there’s nothing they can save, they’ll make something up. And this means that they can zealously “fix” things within the business, before they know if it needs fixing at all. When the dust settles, you’ll be left wondering what happened, and whose victory it is.
Rogues play a supporting role. They always case the joint first, spending time working out what the real issue is. They find the pathways, disarm traps, win over the guards and point the way, to help make ideas happen. They can be heroic while letting others remain the hero.
3. They find the path of least resistance.
In an era where patience and hard work is virtuous, those who take shortcuts or stray from convention are often frowned upon.
But in today’s fast paced economy, it’s ‘innovate or die’. Sometimes, there isn’t time to do things the right way. Sometimes we need to find the best way, and the shortcut may lie hidden right beneath you. It takes a fresh perspective to help discover it.
4. They’re objective focused.
When you’re trying to make an idea happen, it’s easy for you or your team to get distracted. Ideas get old very quickly, and the charm and allure of new ideas can distract anyone from the path of implementation.
Rogues, however, keep an eye on their mark. They know that systems are resistant to new ideas and are slow to change. And everyone’s busy, and there are always fires that need putting out. But, if you’re looking to execute ideas and achieve objectives faster, a professional rogue can see through this and keep you on track.
5. They’re (somewhat) immune to politics.
Sometimes it’s that nasty subculture within the organization that chokes the life out of any new ideas. Sometimes, the things that block ideas from happening are some of the very people you work with but you don't want to point the finger.
As an objective operative, a professional rogue brings a level of diplomatic immunity into the job. They can highlight issues that would otherwise be denounced in a cross-functional or ego feud. And once these issues are in the open air, they can rapidly move things into a more productive space.
6. They work to strengths.
You won’t see a professional rogue trying to do everything, though that’s what some leaders attempt to do. They work to people’s strengths. They unite diverse “specialists” to get things done. Think Oceans 11 or Mission Impossible–you’ve got the espionage girl, the lock-pick guy, the explosives-specialist, the techie-guy, the planted-agent, and so on.
7. They question authority.
This is probably why people are uncomfortable to engage a professional rogue – they’ll ask questions. Chances are they’ll ask the questions that seem dumb, or obvious.
As a savvy operator, the professional rogue will test assumptions, and find gaps and inconsistencies within existing belief systems on how things should be done. Many of us don’t realize that, as human beings, we are profoundly adept at getting in our own way.
Taking on a professional rogue means you’ll rethink your thoughts on things and you’ll make things happen and get things done – which is always a good thing.
About the authors
Dr Jason Fox is an Idea Liberating academic rogue who’s obsessed with making clever happen. He is an award winning international speaker, gamestormer, productivity and innovation consultant who shows forward thinking leaders how to harness and apply the power of game design to influence behaviour, boost productivity and execute ideas.
Alec Dorling is an internationally recognized expert in the field of Process Assessment and Improvement. He is a regularly invited speaker and keynote presenter at seminars and conferences around the world. He is currently implementing adaptive process improvement techniques to improve the success of change efforts, and researching gamification principles (the application of game mechanics to non game applications) to engage and accelerate process improvements in organizations.
Top stuff Alec – always great to meet a fellow rogue ^_^