Invitation to join a global virtual book group reading Francesca Gino’s “Rebel Talent: Why it Pays to Break the Rules at Work and in Life” in February 2019

What

Read Francesca’s “Rebel Talent” book in 4 weeks. Francesca is a behavioural scientist and professor at Harvard Business School and has spent more than a decade studying rebels at organizations around the world.

This is the 2nd selection in My Year of Reading 2019 which was listed by Céline Schillinger in her “How to grow, learn, and act for change in 2019?” list of events, resources etc.

The Harvard abstract for the book:

The world’s best chef.

An airline captain who brought his flight to safety in a daring water landing.

A magician known for his sensational escape acts.

A computer scientist who founded a world-renowned animation studio.

What do all of these people have in common? They love their jobs, they break the rules, and the world is better off for it. They are rebels.

From an early age, we are taught to be rule followers, and the pressure to fit in only increases as we age. But conformity comes at a steep price for our careers and personal lives. When we mindlessly accept rules and norms rather than questioning and constructively rebelling against them, we ultimately end up stuck and unfulfilled. As leaders, we are less effective and respected. As employees, we are more likely to be overlooked for top assignments and promotions. As partners and friends, we are checked out and unhappy.

Francesca Gino has been studying rebels in life and in the workplace for more than 15 years. She has discovered that rebels—those who practice “positive deviance” at work—are harder to manage, but they are good for the bottom line: their passion, drive, curiosity, and creativity raise the entire organization to a new level. And she has found that at home, rebels are more engaged partners, parents, and friends.

Packed with strategies for embracing rebellion at work and in life as well as illuminating case studies ranging from the world of fine dining to fast food chains to corporations such as Google and Pixar, Rebel Talent encourages all of us to rebel against what’s comfortable, so that we can thrive.

Why

There has been increasing use of words such as rebels and pirates in organisational contexts. This book rose to the top of my list of such references and I was intrigued to know more.

You will read about 5 talents of rebel leaders and workers that are making them successful:-

1. novelty
2. curiosity
3. perspective
4. authenticity
5. diversity

Here is Francesca talking about the subject of her book:

When

The aim is to read this book in February 2019 but people can take longer or start later.

How

Read the book.

Post comments on your reading of the book including any notes from the book in text, audio or video (see Where below) e.g. chapter by chapter, using your notes as a kind of journal as you journey through the book.

Reply to the comments and notes of others.

Start a discussion.

As an online learning junkie, I am open to anybody doing anything connected with this book to learn and apply the content of Francesca’s book.

All very informal and fun!

Who

Readers

The book is relevant to all leaders and workers in any organisation who are looking to be more successful as individuals, teams and leaders to make their organisations increasingly successful.

This group would also be good for those who are out of the habit now of reading long-form content and are yearning to get back into that routine and go deeper in their learning supported by others.

Where

The book group is part of a community of learners running on Workplace by Facebook. Many have done or are doing Working Out Loud circles.

There is a dedicated group in that community for this specific book.

To take part in this book club you will be registered on Workplace via an email address that you send to me.

This needs to be one that has yet to be used to register for any other Workplace by Facebook community and ideally would be a personal email address not an organisational one in case your organisation already uses Workplace by Facebook or may use it in the future.

Note that Workplace by Facebook is not consumer Facebook and Facebook are not allowed to use any data held on Workplace for any purpose.

It would be great if you would also use other platforms such as Twitter to publicise your reading of the book and what you are learning from it and your participation in the book group.

I am happy to take any questions.