Rebels at Work

Preface

If you’re reading this book, you’re an idea person. When you see something that isn’t right at work, your mind starts thinking about what could work. You want to make things better.

Maybe you’ve tried to get the powers that be to see the value of your ideas and haven’t made as much progress as you’d like. Or worse, you’ve been told that you’re rocking the boat too hard and your ideas aren’t welcome, thank you very much. Talk about frustration, when all you’re trying to do is make things better. “What am I doing wrong?” you wonder. “What does it take to change things around here? What can I do differently?”

Or, perhaps you are an idea person who has been reluctant to speak up at work because you’re just not sure how to go about proposing a different way of doing things. You may be younger than most people, new to the organization, or have less formal education than your coworkers. You wonder how to be taken seriously and how to propose new approaches without jeopardizing your reputation or your job.

We used to be you. We struggled with the same questions and challenges. We made a lot of mistakes and learned the hard way about what it takes to introduce new ways of doing things at work, which is why we wrote this handbook. We wish someone had given us practical advice on how to create positive change early in our careers. “Imagine,” we wondered, “what we might have been able to do if we had had a practical guide for changing things at work, a handbook with observations and advice about how to navigate the workplace and avoid common mistakes and traps.”

Carmen worked at the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Lois worked for big companies and marketing agencies. While our careers couldn’t have been more different, our observations of what it takes to be a successful change maker, or what we call a good rebel, have been remarkably similar. (See Chapter 1 for details on what we mean by “good rebels.”)

Since we met at an innovation conference in 2010 and found we share a passion for helping good rebels inside all types of organizations, we have spent thousands of hours interviewing and writing about good rebels in all walks of work, from all over the world. All of their stories and advice, while distinct, are similar. Together, we share the following characteristics:

• We want to make things better at work.
• We believe the best ideas come from the people doing the work.
• We can’t bear the thought of working at a job without possibilities for change and growth.
• We don’t want to become angry or complacent or get thrown under the bus.
• We need and want help from other people like us.

Whom This Handbook Is For

We didn’t write this book for managers, although we suspect many managers will find much that is useful in it. We wrote this book for the people doing the work, especially for those who care about doing their own jobs as best as they can and who want to help their organizations, companies, or government agencies do better as well.

Organizations being what they are, people often have to wage a minor insurgency to have their voices heard. That’s one of the reasons we call ourselves (and others like us) rebels at work.

If you’re one of the millions of people who are employees, we hope this handbook helps you become a positive force for change at work.

We don’t want to suggest that we’re somehow anti-management. Far from it. Both of us have had plenty of opportunities to manage and lead. But when we decided to write this book, we made a deliberate choice to focus on the challenges facing employees who want to improve their place of work and don’t have the official authority, power, or influence to call the shots.

What’s in This Handbook

This is the handbook we wish someone had given us. It’s full of practical ideas, useful checklists, and valuable questions. It offers caring advice on what to do tactically, as well as how to manage yourself so that you grow and avoid burnout.

Here’s a summary of the highlights in each chapter:

How to Use This Handbook

There are a number of ways to approach this book:

Read and reference

We invite you to read the chapters that appeal to you in the order that appeals to you, and encourage you to come back when you’re about to shake things up at work again. Most of us have periods at work when things are going smoothly and our rebel skills aren’t needed. But when you’re about to take on a new challenge, please reread the especially relevant chapters before doing anything rash.

Start a rebel book club

There are “Questions to Ponder” at the end of each chapter. You might consider reading this book with a group of like-minded rebels and discussing the questions after each chapter, particularly within the context of your own workplace. For the more ambitious, use the questions as a jumping-off point for a rebel training curriculum for your organization.

Join us

Be part of the Rebels at Work community. You’ll find good rebel profiles, additional resources, videos, a signup form for our newsletter, and frequent blog updates based on what we’re hearing and learning. You can also join in the conversation on the Rebels at Work Facebook page and on Twitter. We both use the @RebelsatWork handle, as well as our personal Twitter accounts. Lois is @LoisKelly, and Carmen is @milouness.

What You’ll Learn

In reading this book, you’ll find out how to:

• Achieve more success and less frustration
• Earn a reputation for having great ideas versus a reputation for being difficult
• Advance your career and avoid being sidelined (or thrown under the bus)
• Help your organization do more meaningful work

• Be authentically who you are versus trying to fit your work style to someone else’s style
• Find more meaning and joy in your work

Will You Pay It Forward?

Figuring out how to create change differs in every work situation. There is no proven methodology that fits every situation. (If only.) If you find this book helpful, would you do us a favor?

Would you please reach out to other rebels and share what you’re learning and offer some support, emotional and tactical? During our research, we have found that rebels at work are a generous, compassionate tribe, intent on making a difference and helping one another succeed and stay true to themselves in the process.

Together, let’s write the next chapter about work where change makers are as vital to success as any technology or process or highly paid executive. Maybe even more so.

Not everyone in an organization needs to be a rebel, but every organization has and needs its rebels.

Adelante!

Conventions Used in This Book

The following typographical conventions are used in this book:

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Acknowledgments

This book belongs to the many who have shared their stories, advice, and research, and who have been willing to listen to our ideas and help us make them better. Rebels are always learning, and so many have taught us so much during the process of writing this book, often in surprising ways.

Deep appreciation goes to editor Stuart Horwitz who got us to a first draft, and editor Deb Cameron who got to us to the finish line, and to those who read the first draft of the book and provided such honest, thoughtful suggestions, including Helen Bevan, Hugh Boyle, Maria DeCarvalho, J. Peter Donald, Christine Flanagan, and Janet Fitzpatrick-Wilks. Equally valuable were the reviewers who read the second draft: Cindy Alvarez, Curt Klun, Dawn Nott, Julie Soderland, Tiffany Wan, and Ayse Wiediger.

Thanks to all those who have shared their stories at RebelsatWork.com and to Peter Vander Auwera of Corporate Rebels United for being crazy enough to cohost a 24-hour online Rebel Jam with us.

A Word from Lois

I would like to give a big thank you to my amazing corporate clients who keep saying, “Yes, let’s try it.”

I am especially grateful to have married Greg Matta, who told me on our first date that he was a maverick and a feminist. Thirty years later, I treasure his kindness and encouragement to take more chances. That my sons Ian Matta and Greg Frishman are as supportive of me is a gift. That they are also rebels fills me with optimism.

A Word from Carmen

I want to thank my mother, Alicia, who went back to get her college degree in her mid-40s because that was the only way to get ahead at work. Her coworkers called her a pistol—another euphemism for a rebel at work.

I also want to acknowledge all the lessons I learned from my colleagues in my 32 years at the CIA. I want to thank the members of the Rebel Alliance—you know who are—and also the managers and mentors who guided and corrected me along the way. I didn’t always follow your counsel, but I always appreciated it.