Francesca Gino: Rebel Talent

As organizations grow and become entrenched in repeatable processes, the openness to experiment with new and innovative ideas can diminish. This often signals the slow death of an organization. However, select groups and individuals can compel change if they are willing to cause friction and sit at the edge of their comfort zone. Francesca Gino in her new book explores the boundary pushing rebels that cause friction to start fires, reigniting the spirit of an organization and the individuals around them.

Harvard Business School Professor Francesca Gino will discuss her latest research on troublemakers, outcasts and contrarians and their innovative ability to create change.

Abstract:
In her talk, Francesca will share insights on why the most successful among us break the rules, and how rebellion brings joy and meaning into our lives. Rebels have a bad reputation. We think of them as troublemakers, outcasts, contrarians: people who complicate seemingly straightforward decisions, create chaos, and disagree when everyone else is in agreement. But in truth, rebels are also those among us who change the world for the better with their unconventional outlooks. Instead of clinging to what is safe and familiar, and falling back on routines and tradition, rebels defy the status quo. They are masters of innovation and reinvention, and they have a lot to teach us. Francesca has spent more than a decade studying rebels at organizations around the world, from high-end boutiques in Italy’s fashion capital, to the World’s Best Restaurant, to a thriving fast food chain, to an award-winning computer animation studio. In her work, she has identified leaders and employees who exemplify “rebel talent,” and whose examples we can all learn to embrace.

Biography:
Francesca Gino is the Tandon Family Professor of Business Administration in the Negotiation, Organizations & Markets Unit at Harvard Business School. She is also formally affiliated with the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, with the Mind, Brain, Behavior Initiative at Harvard, and with the Behavioral Insight Group at Harvard Kennedy School. Professor Gino teaches Decision Making and Negotiation in the MBA elective curriculum and in Executive Education programs at the School. She co-chairs an HBS Executive Education program on applying behavioral economics to organizational problems and another on Driving Profitable Growth. She has also been teaching a variety of Ph.D. courses, on Micro Topics in Organizational Behavior, Behavioral Approaches to Decision Making and Experimental Methods.

She recently published the book “Rebel Talent” (Dey Street Books), in which she talks about why it pays to break the rules and how it leads to transcendent work.