Rebel or Expert? How About Both

Originally, I was going to use this week’s column to dive into some of the strategies and tactics surrounding Alliance Partners but then inspiration hit in the form of one of my favorite podcasts, “Hidden Brain.”  Last week’s episode focused on the concept of “rebel talent” and how nonconforming behaviors, when executed properly, and with sincerity of purpose, can lead to some incredible outcomes. 

As I was listening to the discussion, I started to think about this concept both in terms of BJJ and partnerships and it struck me just how important this concept is to grow in both disciplines. 

In BJJ, the innovators on the mats are those that didn’t conform to the rules that were set before them but who decided to take the foundation of knowledge they’d gained from their instructors and adapt that knowledge in a way that broke the rules and changed the dynamic of the way they engaged with their opponents. 

Indeed, it was just such a rule-breaking mentality within an otherwise rigid martial art of Japanese Jiu Jitsu that lead the founder of BJJ, Master Helio Gracie, to change his approach to Jiu Jitsu in a way that suited his relatively frail frame and, ultimately, allowed him to dominate much larger, and more physically gifted, opponents.  The result of his rebellious thinking: a dramatic revolution that literally changed the way martial arts would be thought of forever. 

As is the case with many innovators who become pioneers, once Helio Gracie had established, and proven his methods and expertise, lines were drawn around this process deviation was generally frowned upon.  The Gracie family became the primary source of BJJ knowledge and guarded and controlled that knowledge in much the same way traditional martial artists had done for centuries.  Though effective, the expert (and I’m using the term “expert” here to describe one who owns the institutional knowledge) control meant that going too far outside the bounds of what had been developed and taught by Master Helio was not encouraged therefore, BJJ stayed relatively the same for years.

Fast forward a couple of decades, past the dawn of the new Millennium, where BJJ was now the acknowledged gold standard for grappling arts and, as result, it grew rapidly in popularity with factional schools and instructors popping up all over the world.  Unencumbered by a predetermined set of standards, many of these schools were free to test, innovate, and grow their understanding and execution of their art away from the experts. 

Obviously, things didn’t always go well as some schools lacked the proper foundation upon which they could build, tried methods that were simply ineffective, or were run by people who were ill-suited to their roles.  But, what followed, particularly over the last decade, has been a period of incredible innovation similar to that of technology with rapid changes and developments that make it difficult to keep pace. 

Men like Renzo Gracie, has created exciting new advances in the sport, and art, of BJJ.

Eddie Bravo, Marcelo Garcia, John Danaher, and Keenan Cornelius have taken it upon themselves to defy convention and explore new angles of approach that allow for attacks, and defenses, never before conceived as possibilities which

Lest you think this a history lesson in BJJ, this same thing is happening in the world of partnerships and strategy.  Traditionally we’ve viewed partnerships primarily through the lens of the channel.  Driving referrals and direct revenue through agencies, resellers, and sales alignment has been the yardstick by which we measure success and, while metrics along these fronts remain important parts of the overall strategy, they are no longer the sole foundations upon which a company can, and I would argue, should, build a successful partner organization. 

As it stands in today’s martech universe, the partner team is quickly becoming the strategic hub of the organization as it’s this unit that is best suited, and most ideally equipped, to engage in “rebel” thinking and behavior.  Whereas the adjacent business units all have very internal focuses aimed at external executions (sales: predetermined goals and parameters; marketing: focuses on product and service for external communication; product: highly focused up improving existing functions, adding features, and executing integrations for customers and prospects), the partner team maintains an external focus with the idea of bringing something outside of the company to bear internally for the purpose of improving, and enabling, one or more of the other business units. 

An effective strategic hub will have processes, plans, and goals but it will also approach its interactions with the wide variety of companies, people, and ideas with which its members interact with a sense of curiosity and eye towards bringing something novel to the table.

Unencumbered by a long string of experts who’ve “been there, done that”, partner organizations are uniquely positioned explore new ways of doing things and to take chances where other business units, traditionally flush with experts, are not.  Often this means that the novel ideas brought to the table won’t work, or they may fail upon launch but - within reason, of course - that’s not only OK but a necessary part of the process.  These ideas and failures will challenge the organization to think in ways they otherwise might not which, if done correctly, will lead to positive change in all directions. 

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not bashing the idea of expertise, quite the opposite in fact.  Expertise and understanding are critical to ensuring goals are identified, pursued, and met.  Rather, what I’m advocating is that we not focus so much on becoming experts that we forget how valuable wildcards can, and should, be to the process of building and growing a company. 

Key Takeaways:

1.     Expertise is great but don’t let it get in the way of novelty and exploration.

2.     Utilize the partner organization as a strategic hub to help bring ideas from outside the organization to bear internally to the benefit of the entire company.

3.     Old advice but worth repeating: don’t be afraid to fail. Failure, within reason, can trigger growth and innovation like almost nothing else.

To learn more about “rebel thinking”, please check out Rebel Talent, Why It Pays To Break Rules At Work And In Life by Francesca Gino…it’s a great read!