Rebel On!

The word rebel has been falling out of favor lately. The 6 January insurrection at the US Capital sharpened many’s discomfort with the term. Also in the USA, the term rebels is associated with the Confederacy, and recently many high schools and colleges have dropped their rebel mascots.

In an effort to reclaim the positive aspects of the rebel label, we recently had our friend Tanmay Vora create a graphic around our Bad Rebel/Good Rebel chart. He did a fine job, as usual, and we now have English and Spanish versions. But that hasn’t been without controversy either. Some have claimed that there is no such thing as a Bad Rebel. Instead what actually happens is that the powers that be refuse to listen to the excellent rebel ideas.

I resemble those comments. During my career in government I was mystified as to why my colleagues and managers didn’t appreciate the brilliance of my ideas. I was convinced they were the problem. Soon I gained the reputation of being cynical and negative—two “bad rebel” superlatives. It wasn’t until years later with the benefit of hindsight that I realized some of my behaviors were not optimal. I could have done a better and more nuanced job of advocating for my ideas. I may still not have cracked the status quo’s hard exterior shell, but I would have lost fewer friendships, made fewer enemies, and saved myself a few heartbreaks. (I share some of my lessons about surviving as a change agent in this TEDx talk.)

Please don’t consider the bad rebel/good rebel concept as categorical. For us it’s a continuum. There are some circumstances where you may have to lecture more than listen. And you may not always attract the allies you need through no fault of your own. But we do believe that rebels can affect real change in non-destructive ways, without breaking rules and shattering institutions.

Adelante!