How To Keep Innovators Happy? Use The 'Dandelion Principle'

“It’s no accident that great achievers, in business or beyond, rarely fit into conventional molds,” say Robert Austin  and Thorkil Sonne, in a recent article  in the MIT Sloan Management Review . They have proposed a method to “harness more of the world’s talent, and to make organizations more innovative” through a method they call the “Dandelion Principle.”

Sonne’s company Specialisterne (translated from the Danish as “The Specialists”) trains and employs individuals with autism as consultants in IT and other sectors; they developed the Dandelion Principle as a new approach to managing people

Dandelion as metaphor

“Dandelion” is a powerful metaphor.  The authors point out that although many people consider dandelions as weeds that spoil a green lawn, the plant has many positive characteristics:  The roots can make a coffee substitute; the leaves are edible; and dandelions are an excellent source of many vitamins and minerals. It is only considered a weed in the context of a carefully maintained lawn. “However in contexts that don’t call for uniformity, we can appreciate the dandelion’s distinctive attributes,” the authors write.

Once a company has a “dandelion” as an employee, it is key that the employee is supported by an appropriate management style. In a recent email, Austin gives a software testing example:

“Software testing is often done in a rather tense environment, with lots of hurrying. By the time projects reach testing, they’re often already running late. But when Specialisterne puts their dandelion software testers in place, they need to operate in a calm environment, insulated from this level of pressure, else they stop being effective. So they need to work for someone who will absorb and deflect the day-to-day project tensions and let them get on with their work.

“A manager who adopts this kind of philosophy will take on more of a role in preserving the most productive environment for the people who work for her or him, and also in helping manage any frictions that emerge from differences in styles of working.”

Beyond autism

Austin and Sonne use The Dandelion Principle to describe a broader range of atypical people, beyond those with autism. These are people who have talents but may be challenged to stay employed in a standard work environment. In continuing the software testing example,  Austin says consider  “a very talented software developer who poses interpersonal challenges (and there have been a lot of these in the history of the tech industry, the lore is full of these stories), the dandelion enlightened manager will take it upon herself or himself to do the smoothing, the connecting, the tying of loose ends together; an old-school manager might instead focus on getting the "problem child" to behave like everyone else.”

The creative side of media is another area attracts many of these people.  “I've met quite a number of people in post-production companies, who do special effects, say, or digital color correction, or artistry of some kind with sound,” writes Austin, “who are atypical in terms of their talent, and in terms of their behavior or cognitive style, or in some other way.”

Cost Benefit and Limits

“There are limits to what you should be okay with, of course," says Austin, "but in general a dandelion manager is trying to maximize the value that employees can individually produce, even if that means some rough edges, while an old school manager is trying to get the 'cogs in the machine' to fit together more smoothly.”

The collaborative, team environment of most companies is a particular challenge for dandelions.  Austin admits that, “There can be frictions and tensions. Where this has been successful, there are mechanisms or processes in place to notice signs of friction or difficulty and address these quickly.” He continues,  “The people around a dandelion need to understand what's going on, need briefing, even training, and there might need to be someone ready to swoop in if a serious problem arises.”

He cautions that some people have argued that this means dandelions are more expensive and that they can be  “higher overhead, or higher cost…at least in some cases, maybe many cases.” However, Austin says “often it’s worth it to make that investment, because of the value you can activate from the dandelion source. You get more extra value than it costs you in extra overhead.”

Dandelions for smaller companies

Austin agrees that although it will be harder for companies with limited resources to hire exceptional people but not in ways related to specific jobs, he maintains that  “the principle might be even more important for these smaller companies. In my experience, and I think a lot of other people's too, small companies often have to evolve to find the approaches that bring them success.” He continues, "When this happens, people with remarkable abilities that you didn't foresee value in when you had your previous mindset on, might just turn out to be your most important assets.”

Dandelion HR practices vs. traditional 

*Table comparing traditional to Dandelion HR practices courtesy of MIT Sloan Management Review, © Mass Institute of Technology

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