Find someone undervalued, ask them to teach you something

Inside of a company there will always be a sort of popularity hierarchy. We shouldn’t be too cynical about this popularity; how teams generally feel about an individual has significance. It is usually more sophisticated than the sorting that happens in elementary school, but it is by no means a perfect system. Some people get the benefit of their charisma, other people are cursed by their social anxiety, the wisdom of crowds has flaws, but it also can identify hard workers and people that know how to get things done.

But all of this is obvious.

What is not so obvious is how you can benefit from observing what others overlook. In almost every grouping of people there are people that took a chance on something and it didn’t pay off. Perhaps they made a mistake, are nearing the end of their career or perhaps the tides of culture changed just as they were taking a big chance and they were left sopping wet in front of all their colleagues, who all opted to steer clear of the person who now looks out of place.

Whatever the reason, if you see a person who is left adrift in your organization, it may benefit you to sit down with them and talk. I have found that many of the people that are unpopular get that way because they are low in the trait of agreeableness. They are almost compelled to state that they have observed a problem or think things should be another way. Often this ostracizes them from those that cooperate easily.

You need disagreeable people in your life

They are the ones that will value being correct more than they value you liking them. They prefer to resolve conflict in the short term and are willing to say things that you may need to hear even though it may hurt your feelings or cause you to feel less than adequate. These are the people that are the most likely to push you to think harder, and make you work to earn their respect.

Of course, not all disagreeable people are valuable, nor are the unpopular necessarily able to teach you something valuable. But, if you find a disagreeable person that is intelligent, hard-working and misunderstood you may be able to take their unorthodox view of the world and turn it into something that others can appreciate. This means you have discovered a mine of undervalued information and that is a resource you can arbitrate.

Most of the interesting and novel things I have to say about genetic engineering, capitalism, and modern agriculture, I first discovered talking with people that others have trouble working with.

The person that demands that I get all of the details correct or tell me when I say something banal. You can get the benefit of these people because most everyone else undervalued them, viewing them as arrogant, pushy, or grumpy. Spend time digging through their opinions and insights. When they concluded that you are willing to put in the time to learn from them they will put an order of magnitude more energy into teaching you.

Big discoveries and big changes come from individuals that were forced out of their tribe for thinking something different. Find those people, learn how to appreciate them and you will both benefit. Find disagreeable mentors, they may make you better and you will give them the gift of understanding their view of the world.

For more ideas like this, follow me on Twitter or listen to The Vance Crowe Podcast HERE or anywhere you listen to podcasts.