Box of Crayons

Be a little bit weird

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This was (yet another) interesting and provocative talk from the TED stage. It’s about the five stages of tribes – and why we should strive (at least) for Stage Four and maybe even Stage Five.

But this is what I loved about it. Half way through or thereabouts, David Logan shows a short video from Zappos – now part of the Amazon.com culture.

He mentions one of Zappos’ values…

Be a little bit weird.

How totally fantastic is that? That to me says, let’s build in Great Work. Because if you’re not being a little bit different, you’re playing it safe and you’ll be stuck in Good Work. Good Work has its place. But Great Work’s what you want more of. And being a little bit weird is one way to find that.

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Posted on October 15, 2009
Posted in organizational culture, self-management | Tagged , , , , , ,

4 Responses to Be a little bit weird

  1. Karen J. says:
    October 15, 2009 at 12:20 pm

    Thanks for that TED link, Michael!
    Here’s to more Great Work, in all phases of our lives!
    Karen

  2. Sherrill Leverich-Fries says:
    October 15, 2009 at 2:14 pm

    Great video, Michael! Thanks for sharing it. Explained a lot of my discomfort with moving forward in certain areas of life, and the creative juices are flowing for how I can move all my tribes forward!

  3. Nick Camillo says:
    December 2, 2009 at 11:28 pm

    Weirdly enough, that’s our motto too! (hah?)

    Seriously though, great video. David Logan is a genius. I’m really glad I came across your blog, you’ve got a real, quality thing going on here. Just subscribed to your RSS!

    Thanks Michael!