BUS603: Managing People

I was at a conference in Jackson Hole, talking with Peter McLaren and Donaldo Macedo and David Gabbard. This guy in a herring-bone suit, all prim and proper, came over and said, "Well, Dr. Macedo, very, very interesting talk. I enjoyed it very much. Dr. Gabbard, very interesting talk. I enjoyed it very much".

He was going around being polite. And then he turned and looked at Peter McLaren, and he said, "Mr. Mclaren…" - not "doctor" - "your discourse stretches my comfort zone just a little too much".

And before any of us could say anything, Donaldo turned to him and said, "There are millions of people born, live their entire lives, and die on this planet without ever knowing the luxury of a comfort zone".

The guy was speechless. It was a very polite way for him to say, "You know, I'm tired of hearing white men tell me that they're feeling a little oppressed by discourse".

The guy walked away, and Peter McLaren turned to me and said, "F**k! Why didn't I say that?" But that's Macedo. Macedo is on his toes, all the time. He's never caught tongue-tied. He knows exactly how to turn it around.
- Roberto Bahruth

A deviate is someone who differs in some important way from the rest of a group indicates that interaction with deviates may account for up to a quarter of many groups' time and that such interaction may serve a positive function if it successfully causes people who hold a majority opinion to examine their views critically. In essence, dealing with deviates can keep group members on their toes and counteract the tendency to engage in groupthink. Encouraging deviates is one measure a leader can take to promote constructive conflict which brings a group to a higher level of understanding and harmony.

Of course, listening to a deviate may be disconcerting, since it may push us outside our comfort zone in the way that Peter McLaren did in the story told by Roberto Bahruth. In fact, deviates naturally have great difficulty influencing a group because of other people's resistance. For this reason, part of a leader's responsibility may sometimes consist in simply making sure that a deviate is not outright silenced by members of the majority. In other cases, it is the leader who at least at times assumes the role of deviate herself or himself.

Because deviates by their very nature call the members of the majority in a group to stop and seriously question their attitudes and behavior, which is usually disconcerting and uncomfortable, the most successful deviates are generally those who attempt to lead others in a cautious fashion and who demonstrate loyalty to their group and its goals. Timing can also determine whether a deviate's influence will be accepted. Waiting until a group has developed a sense of cohesiveness is most likely to be more effective, for instance, than jumping in with an unexpected or unconventional proposal during the group's formative stages.