Embrace The Odd

Do you know anyone who is a little bit, umm, odd?

Since I've worked in entertainment as well as business, and played in bands and made movies, I've known my share of odd people. People who have interesting habits that make them just a little different. Like collecting nail clippings in a jar (yes, someone I once lived with actually did that) or alphabetizing their yogurt in the refrigerator (yes, someone I'm quite sweet on does that). Odd can be good (except that same person with the yogurt does not like odd numbers) and extremely helpful when it comes to problem solving.

Problems need new ideas, new ways of doing things. When we are solving problems, we need all the creativity that we can get. What greater source of creative ideas than a problem solving team member who is a bit eccentric?

Who else would think of that game-changing idea? Who else could be more fun?

An eccentric problem solver is still a problem solver.

And that's what high performance leaders do: solve problems and achieve their goals.

Who do you know who is just eccentric enough to spark the ideas you need on your team?

-- Doug Smith

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