“For things to change, somebody somewhere has to start acting differently.” – From the book Switch: How to change things when change is hard.

If you want your team to do things differently just send them an email right?

Just merely saying ‘let’s be different’, ‘let’s innovate’ in an email is not going to cut it. If you don’t like the present situation and see no end in sight, don’t wait for your boss to give you permission to do things differently. You already have the tools, all you have to do is take off your ‘it’s not my job hat’ and do something about it.

There are rahrah! people who will try to pump people up and then go and hide in their caves thinking they’ve just inspired even the company mascot and that all will be taken care of, and then there are the quiet ones who just make things happen. Which one are you?

Take an opposite approach to everyone else’s behavior and make it your responsibility to fight ‘sameness’, you’ll piss people off but that’s what it takes to do things differently.