People call you an instigator, a protagonist, a renegade, a pirate, a mercenary, a rebel, or an empowered employee. We know you for what you really are: a change agent who sees speed, change and innovation as the new corporate norm. We know because we are you. We know the challenges – and the excitement – of driving change in an incumbent or start-up company. We know what it means to go for “The Innovator’s Risk”
We call ourselves “Corporate Rebels United”.
The concept of Corporate Rebels is not new. Many people have written about or have alluded to it:
John Hagel referred to the concept of the “Empowered Employee” in one of his recent Forbes posts.
The key answer that defines the post-digital enterprise is to shift attention from the cost side to the value side. Rather than treating employees as cost items that need to be managed wherever possible, why not view them as assets capable of delivering ever-increasing value to the marketplace? This is a profound shift in focus. For one thing, it moves us from a game of diminishing returns to an opportunity for increasing returns. There is little, if any, limit to the additional value that people can deliver if given the appropriate tools and skill development.
and
The post-digital divide will force them to choose sides – on the side of employee empowerment, or on the side of tactical cost cutting, job cutting, and diminishing returns. If not, the divide will choose for them.
But a Corporate Rebel has something extra. It is about daring to stick out your neck. It is about taking personal leadership.
Nilofer Merchant differentiated between a rebel and a leader
So perhaps we could use a more neutral word: protagonist. A protagonist is a principal champion of a cause or program or action. The protagonist does not wait for permission to lead, innovate, or strategize. They do what is right for the firm, without regard to status. Their goal is to do what’s good for the whole.
Lois Kelly (@loiskelly) from Foghound and Mike Maney (@the_spinmd) from Alcatel-Lucent also discussed recently whether the word “rebel” is not too negative. Mike made some very deep reflections why the hard dividing line between good and bad rebels does not always make sense.
Argument aside, we believe that – positioned well – the word “corporate rebel” exactly reflects who we are.
The aim of “Corporate Rebels United” is to create a global community of extraordinary corporate change agents. It is not an academic exercise or research effort. It’s something deeply actionable.
Our mission is to build the most amazing community of corporate rebels worldwide to ensure that true change and innovation happens virally
The initial idea for Corporate Rebels United emerged when innovation teams of Alcatel-Lucent and Swift met and worked closely in the context of Swift’s Innotribe program. We were excited by the exchange of ideas and energy that emerged when like-minded folks came together. And that got us thinking about some big “what if’s”:
- What if we could create a tribe of the best and most exceptional corporate rebels worldwide – people like us, people like you?
- What if we could start leveraging each other’s ideas, energy and best practices?
- What if we could design a movement to support each other when the going gets tough?
- What if we could cross-fertilize and infect our organizations with the change-virus from within?
We want to identify exceptional people worldwide that already have an impressive impact on change and innovation in their corporations, no matter in what field or industry. The movers and the shakers. The do-ers of today. The ones who take initiative. Who create deep change from within. People who energize their organizations by leading from their true selves. The crazy ones. The rebels. The troublemakers. The ones who see things differently, and who are crazy enough to think they can change the world. People like you.
Our plan is to start small – 15 founding rebels cross-industry – because we want to ensure quality and resilience in the initial starters group. We’d like to get the spirit right from the start. We have scheduled a kickoff call on March 30, 2012 with 15 founding rebels. We will follow that call with an off-site meeting where we’ll jointly build a set of agreed upon principles and a longer-term action plan to open and expand Corporate Rebels United to a wider audience.
A lot of “getting the spirit right” was already included in one of my latest prezi’s on the “Soul of Innovation”. Without any publicity, this prezi already generated more than 3,000 hits in less than one month. We seem to have touched something that resonates. Some of it was withheld for my TEDxNewWallStreet talk last week in Mountain-View. Innovation is more than a set of tools and processes. Innovation is an attitude with tribal energy!
For viewing this prezi, turn audio “on”, as I experimented a lot with sound and visual landscapes.
Somewhere halfway in that prezi, you will discover the Rebels Manifesto in the Pirates Treasure Map
Rebels Manifesto
Relentlessly
Challenging the status quo
Breaking the rules
Saying the unsaid
Spreading the innovation virus
Seeding Tribal energy
With No fear
With a cause to do good
Leading by Being from our True Selves
Going after the un-named quality
Relentlessly
What exactly Corporate Rebels United will do is the essence of our discussion at our kick-off call and event. Initial ideas include:
- We want to build an action-driven community.
- We want to create an incredible energy bomb of corporate change.
- We aim for a very high level of integrity and authenticity. We want this to be morally, intellectually, and artistically right
- We want to re-enforce the energy of known rebels in a non-zero sum community.
- We want to identify and unleash the energy from the hidden rebels and the hidden pearls in our organizations and give them a voice
- We want to create exchange programs between our corporations
- We want to have deep positive business impact on the corporations and organizations that host and pay our salaries.
- We want to create a culture in our corporations where change is the norm.
- We want to measure the progress and propulsionwe make/create:
- Individually
- The folks we influence
- The corporate change heartbeat
- We want to evolve our corporations into places of constant change, resilience, responsiveness, reflection and vibrant energy.
- We want to create a place for play, fun, rock, and rich personal expression
At the start, Corporate Rebels United will be a closed community: we’re looking for atypical people who make us go WOW!
Because they act from their true self and without fear, and make amazing change happen within their organizations and the ecosystems they are part of.
People with a moral, architectural, almost artistic integrity. People with a BIG innovation heart in the right place.
We’re looking for people who inspire us as human beings. With open mind, open heart, and open will.
Like Seth Godin said in his last book (We are all Weird):
“they have to be a bit weird”.
We plan to go full-steam as from our Kick-Off call on 30 March 2012, right after the start of the 2012 spring. Our ambition is to be able to shine and radiate as a strong community with first results by end October – Mid November, not co-incidentally the busy conference season with Innotribe at Sibos, Techonomy, Defrag and Blur.
Like Bill Gates wanted to see a PC on every desktop, and Eric Schmidt wants to see an (Android) mobile in every pocket, we want to see a corporate rebel in every company. That’s a lot of corporate rebels 😉
Of course, I am not Bill Gates, nor Eric Schmidt. But there is still enough room for a normal human being like me to create significant impact. And although I am 55 years old now, I still want to change the world. And yes – at 55 – I still would like to instigate a Corporate Spring. There is no age for Corporate Rebels.
We jump and want to feel the daily adrenaline of being and coaching Corporate Rebels every day of our life.
As we get started up, get some inspiration on our curated site for Corporate Rebels United on Scoop-it.
If you are interested to join Corporate Rebels United, leave a note and some argumentation on why you’d like to join in the comments section of this blog post. And/or let us know what you can bring to the table to make this a big success.
As the Corporate Rebels United get up-to-speed, they will start blogging on http://corporaterebelsunited.wordpress.com and we will soon open our website at http://www.corporaterebelsunited.com
Let’s 21 March 2012 be the start of our Corporate Spring! Because we believe it matters to infect our organizations with “change-as-the-norm” from the bottom-up!
@petervan of the Innotribe team
Laura Merling (@magicmerl) and Mike Maney (@the_spinmd) from the Alcatel-Lucent team
Petervan Studios 
We don’t need rebels as rebels accept the system in the end. We need revolutionaries that change the rules, I feel.
Frans, thx for your comment. I agree with you. I believe we discuss semantics: “revolutionaries” or “rebels” or “instigators”, etc > it’s about real people who passionately want change. Peter
As long as we understand each other:). Pychiatrists like Fromm and Marcuse used to use both terms with this different connotation. Frans
Frustration reigns. I attribute it to the death throes of the industrial age and reluctance to embrase a new networked order.
I’m ready to man the barricades but probably don’t qualify for your ranks. Like John Hagel and Nilofer Merchant, I am on the outside, not on the corporate payroll.
There’s considerable overlap of your sentiments and the direction of the Stoos Network. See http://www.stoosnetwork.org/ Several dozen of us met on a Swiss mountain top, united in our common belief that the current corporate form and management model are badly broken. Perhaps our movements should link arms.
Hi Jay,
Last year we had a call to check out your availability for Innotribe @ Sibos, but dates did not work out.
Anyway, thx for your comments. I do already follow Stoos Network and read about your stay on the Swiss mountain. I believe Steve Denning was also there, right ?
Would love to explore how our movements could link arms. How do you wish to progress this idea ?
Petervan
That picture didn’t look like rebels to me.
They looked like corPirates.
Curtis, i often use the pirates metaphor for rebels… If you have a better picture for rebels, please let me know and i will be happy to use it as main page for this post and for the website 😉
Rebels look to subvert the existing system.
Pirates raid the existing system to create the new.
The rebels heart is with the pirates.
Curtis. Great to gave you with us. Thx for the discussion on pirates-rebels. We indeed want to create something new with our heart. Stay tuned ! Very best! Petervan
As Jay already mentioned, there is overlap in movements. Which is not bad at all because it means there are many people out there having identical concerns. After the Stoos gathering was finished I wondered if it was only the management system that needed rethinking. I felt the need to get some sort of overview of possible other ‘systems’ that might need rethinking. This need inspired me to make a mindmap that you can find here: https://www.mindmeister.com/131754566/better-world. And a bit later I also made a manifesto’s mindmap, just for fun. You can find i here: https://www.mindmeister.com/139023093. Ofcourse the rebel’s manifesto is already inside.
Wow, Louis! That is quite a mindmap! Thx for sharing. Very interesting. Peter
Rebels is sometimes counterproductive because it says that it goes in the other direction, it doesn’t follow the rule and follow its own rule. In your case, you are viral change agent, agent that are their to ignite the change in the company, to change mindset. But you are right, at the beginning of a change, you are like a pirat, alone against the majority. Very good initiative
Dramsi,
Thx for your comment. I like the “viral change agent” 😉 and also “…alone against the majority”. It makes me think of Gandhi’s quote “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”.
I think they are still ignore us, so there is a long way to go 😉
Best regards
Petervan
@maverickwoman is with the Force! She was “born this way” ;-))) What do you want me to do? I’m there!
You’re on the list 😉
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These are the words I have been seeking to read – very much interested to be part of the tribe (even though currently surfing through the rough waves of seeking a fulfilling role in the world of change makers).
Cheers from Dresden (a place on the edge that probably not many know as one of the tech hotspot of the globe, tiny yet shiny)
Ralf
thanks, Ralf!
no organization wants to transform. it is by definition, suicide. because what exists has to die.
if you are willing to babysit those who will resist mightily by taking the time to make them feel secure, even that will be perceived as an insult.
analyzing the darkness has nothing to do with turning on the light …
just start something new …
(and i will also bet, in your new venture, you yourself will not want to hire rebels)
Gregory, thx for your reaction. I don’t know very well how to respond. I try to look at your reaction with open heart, open mind, open will…do you want to share more on what lead you into how you feel ? It’s a strong reaction. I would like to give you a voice… most friendly regards. Petervan
Sign me up!
Consider it done, Dave !
this is lovely Peter. bravo..
Thank you, Monika!
Peter: Count me in. The more we all band together, the more we can change. I bring research, our community (www.rebelsatwork.com), the ear of executives and the heart of rebels. Lois
Wow. Thanks, Lois !
This is very cool. Please count me in. The idea that [Our leader is a meme] comes to mind. Here is a blog post on that:
http://www.worldhouse.org/2011/10/our-leader-is-a-meme/
Our Leader is a Meme. We do not follow one person,or even a few. We do not place one of us at the head to bark orders and before whom we need prostrate ourselves. Our leader is a meme. An idea. A change in perspective.
Here is my blog:
http://newtechusa.net/blog/
Here is my culture-hacking manual, THE CULTURE GAME, a tutorial and reference guide, shipping this month. It provides 16 specific tools for introducing more learning and engagement in your team, your department and your division…without asking permission. Any manager with some courage can immediately engage in culture hacking at work. Most of the tools do not require a budget to implement:
http://newtechusa.net/about/the-culture-game-book/
Please count me in if you think I can help.
Regards,
Dan
as soon as i read about corporate rebels united, i feel like i have met long, lost colleagues that i totally want to hang out with – and soon! (i had an epiphany in 1994!)
i am looking forward to being part of this movement (and feel like i’m kind of in it already in the small corner of this world). for the past 25+ years, i have had opportunity to serve in government, consulting, investor-owned utility, self-employed consulting, and … back to government. (i’m a “staffer”, so consider THAT cultural shift! how unprepared was i?!)
anyway, i have learned my values are aligned with servant leadership characteristics with an edge that has been described as “skunk works” – ALL GOOD! **AND** i am committed to being part of the “cultural shift” that is happening and MUST happen. with that said, here i share with you all some thoughts (continuing to be refined) that i have been batting around – http://shirlnutkin.blogspot.com/2012/03/sharing-bigger-tidbit.html and http://shirlnutkin.blogspot.com/2012/03/still-pondering-share-what.html … i am committed to this cultural shift! i know that this is part of the transition for people to recognize their latent rebel! and i intend to share more with you and others as i continue to refine my thoughts around my coined term of “anthrocubeology”!
best,
~ shirley
OMG: living with your epiphany since 1994! 😉 Thx for connecting. Appreciate the time you took to write and thank you for your openness and vulnerability. Will keep you posted as we make progress. As progress we will make ! Warm regards. Peter
Count me in, Peter. It’s time to change the way we [society, businesses within our society, etc] do things, and it’s time to change ourselves and our organizations from within. I’m all about it.
Plus, I have an eyepatch. Arrr!
Seth, thx so much for your reaction. The guy with the eyepatch. Love it. Will keep you posted on how we make progress. Promise. Warm regards, Petervan
Peter, interesting propoosition! It reminds me of Mille Plateaux, that beautiful book written by Guattari and Deleuze in 1980, about nomads and rhizomes, long before we started discussing “knowmads”…
I’ve been working on peer-to-peer learning in a project facilitated by Howard Rheingold and during my day job I’m integrating social media practices in a newsroom. Maybe I can provide some ideas and practices regarding social media and community design for this project. I’d be happy to collaborate.
Roland, thank you for your reaction. Done work with Howard Reingold ! Wow. Would love to discuss what you can offer for social media and community design. My work email is peter (dot) vanderauwera (at) swift.com
Happy for your connection
Petervan
Hi Peter, finally, having a moment to drop by and comment further along, while I am currently on a business trip. When I read this wonderful and rather thought provoking blog post I just couldn’t feel more identified with the purpose of this initiative and I would surely like to chime in and participate further. Here’s a blog post I put a while ago that relates, a little bit, my rebel at work story. Hope I’m still on time to participate further on. Count me in, please! 🙂
Luis, great to have you here. Not too late. Can you please send or DM youe email contact details ? My email address is on my blog. Thanks. Petervan
Hi Paul! Circling down on this one… Just wanted to let you know that I have sent out the details as requested and I would be looking forward to it, for sure. And perfect timing, since I will be home by then from my last business trip! Speak soon!! 🙂
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Just sign me up
Peter, I just came across your blog and you touched my sool with “We want to build an action-driven community”. As 57 year old I always was I a sort of rebel striving for better world, company and life. I work now in higher education in The Netherlands and I feel we should teach and practice leadership, innovation and create value for people and society.
For leadership i like the view of Jensen e.a. in The Three Laws and the material on SSRN.
Hi Arthur, thx for the comment. Please share a bit more on what you concretely did as a rebel in your previous life. I checked out Jensen and SSRN > looks interesting. What in your view, in your language are those Three Laws ? Warm regards, Petervan.
In South Africa we have been going for 8 years http://www.rebels.co.za and we love what we do.
Pretty cool, Eugene that you are already doing this for 8 years. Tell me more about the bidding process for credit congress in Africa. Sounds compelling. Petervan.
Peter – how can you ask me a question like this ? Forgot we are Rebels ? See the pretty girl on the varsity campus was always without a date because everybody thought she is corted by the rich top sportsman – wrong everybody thought so and she stayed without a date. Well same on this one – we bid while everybody thought it is going to be the big guns from the USA going for 2013 – well from Africa (Johannesburg) came this loud yell “2013 if for Africa” and the rest is history. If you want it, dont look at the odds, screw it lets do it.
How about this for the Rebels …… The world credit congress is only every second year on a different continent. Us as Rebels bid in 2011 for the 2013 congress to host it in Africa. No price for a guess – yes we got it. Being a Rebel is the same as being a revolutionist !
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Peter,
From the other South African Rebels, sign me up as well, please.
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I’m posting something I left some time ago. This is what I think a rebel is. For me, I thought for a long time I was alone, hell, I have been working in the Military for 25 years, so I know I am a rebel and I have proven it’s a tough way of being , hopefully I can be an asset 🙂 ….. Coffee or tea ? A simple question, or is it ? Suppose I wanted the perfect drink for me and you would have to get it, how many questions would you ask before knowing how to get it for me ? 5,10 ? I take coffee, so the next question should be milk or sugar, and that’s about it. Two years ago I got my first Starbuck coffee ( hey I’m European ,so cut me some slack) and I got a whole bunch of questions I never expected,such as what’s your name… But what about all the other questions they didn’t ask me? I’ll drag you out of Starbuck’s and put you in a white,neutral cube and let you try to get me my perfect coffee. ( there , I gave you the first answer, I’ll take coffe,thank you) but now, are you giving me an espresso or an instant coffee or a filter coffe ? Grained by hand or grained off the shelf or maybe a Nespresso ? Which beans, arabica or robusto, or will it be mixed and in what proportion ? Milk, , creamer, powder, cream, the milk, skimmed cow, yak) Sugar, white , brown, liquid, honey or maybe sweetener, natural or synthetic… Or is it more Irish coffee-like ? Whipped cream, fresh or not, whiskey, cognac, Sambucca, Amaretto… the sugar question again, and than , in a cup, mug, bowl, glas,jar, … Actually I’d prefer a Turkish coffe, dubble heated with cardamon and cinnamon, made in a Cezve, grained by hand (very fine) a lot of natural sugar (didn’t see that one coming did you ? ) THIS is what rebels do, we “GET” this, we life by these questions and guess what, we get surprised by a bunch more questions we didn’t ask, so when will any number of questions be enough ? An answer could be never, but as many as possible is beter than too little for sure… an thus I’m drinking my perfect Turkish Coffe, as requested,.. but don’t get me the same tomorrow, I might get a tea, so ask me again in the morning…
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Take me on board, I can’t wait to be crew member on CRU XD please 🙂
count me in. I’m a disruptive brand pirate, and customer engagement change agent. in the process of preparing to launch a new kind of transformative economic empowerment, and social currency transaction platform. The alpha 1.0 experiemnt is hidden behind the http://www.higomo.com mystery box 🙂
What you do is very interesting, Steve! Not only as a possible way to create incentives in the Corporate Rebels Unites community, but also in the context of the Future of Money research we do for Innotribe. And a nice bunch of common friends as well 😉 I will send an update on Corporate Rebels United on my blog next week. We made a lot of progress. Consider yourself “in”. Stay tuned.
Peter I’d also like to join. My particular interest is in how we can take a multi-pronged approach to producing the crucial change necessary for 21stC organisations to thrive and 20thC organisations survive. The first 2 posts here: http://sysparatem.co/blog/ represent some thinking around this. The second forms the core of a presentation I am giving on Monday at an open meeting of http://www.Scio.org.uk which has been applying management cybernetics for some time.
I am extremely eager to engage with anyone who REALLY wants to take a fresh look at the paradigm shifts essential to survival now
I applaud your initiative
Awesome that you want to join, MIke! I will send an update on Corporate Rebels United on my blog next week. We made a lot of progress. Consider yourself “in”. Stay tuned.
Wonderful, many thanks
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Greetings,
Managing work and people. Leadingship for Everyone or Leadership for Someone.
This challenge is your choice of option in either staying behind in the past or moving beyond in the future.
I am delighted to share the launching of “The Leadingship Fieldbook” with you all. This launching took place as a lecture at the Wales Public Summer School in July this year. Feel free in forwarding this message to your contacts and throughout your network. Please give me a response on this launching. I will appreciate a notice or an initiative in promoting the Leadingship Approach towards other potential occasions and events that might be relevant.
Your change is your challenge!
As someone stated after the lecture on “Leadingship”: “Whilst I didn’t feel comfortable in Rune’s presentation, it created personal challenge about my beliefs and priorities. Therefore, by definition it achieved its outcomes.”.
The video is available here:
P.S. See your own reference: http://moodle.unitec.ac.nz/pluginfile.php/241557/mod_resource/content/3/Governance%20Day%20one.pdf
Best regards,
Rune Kvist Olsen
rukvol@online.no
Tlf. 0047 90 09 45 58
Rune, thx for reaching out and posting your comment. I have started watching the video and it resonates very strongly with me. Let’s have a chat soon. We need to connect
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Great to bump into you through my friend Jerry Michalski! I feel part of the tribe and would love to chat and explore how I can share the space!
Hi Manda. Checked your Wharton post on Empower and Gamechanger. We definitely have to talk. I will connect via your gmail. Cheers. Peter
add me on skype: mandyjgd – you are incubating a great concept! i would like to do the same internally! more when we speak….weekends are best more relexed. i am also free this fri anytime after 2pm Central US time
It is never to late to state you are a #CorporateRebel with a heart for organization you work for. Thanks, Peter, for your amazing work over the years. May come we all together in 2020 as change is progressing in all areas of life, and people like us are in demand more than ever.
Got reminded of your efforts by this recent Tweet by Helen Orgis, https://twitter.com/HelenOrgis/status/1209046447435501568 #RebelsAtWork #CorporateRebels
Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year
Ralf
Thanks Ralf for your kind words of encouragement! Happy holidays !