The fastest path to innovation: Pamper your mavericks

Being a team player and fitting in is a great thing to look for in a team member, but for companies looking to innovate — really innovate — the smart thing to do is to nurture the mavericks who might be a bit of an oddball, but who are developing the unconventional ideas that can take the enterprise a quantum leap forward. Mavericks are not just the geek with the weird hair or the killjoy who sows dissent wherever he goes. But every organization has its mavericks – whose talent matches their reluctance to do things a certain way just because conformity demands it. Find who these people are, give them some room, be patient and watch as they bring the value.