The Power of Pissed-off People

From time to time it occurs to me that I haven't had as much to say on "business and management consulting" as on certain other topics, so it's time to rectify this.

One of the world's best known business and management gurus, Tom Peters, wrote in his book "Re-Imagine" (published 2003) : "I happen to believe that all innovation comes, not from market research or carefully-crafted focus groups, but from pissed-off people". I don't agree with everything Tom Peters has to say by any means, but on the role of pissed-off people in innovation I'm largely in agreement with him. Others, of course, may disagree.

It was this feeling of being "pissed-off" that first led me to take a serious interest in "management" in the mid-1980s. The big issue for me then, as now, was the failure of government agencies planning new infrastructure to adopt a process whereby project options, including alternative development scenarios (eg more environmetally appropriate), could be properly assessed.

Fortunately, alot of other people were also very pissed-off about this, and it has been precisely "the power of pissed-off people" which has, I'm pleased to say, led to some improvements in the appraisal process. However, in my experience if those with a vested interest in the construction of a certain project can find a way around having to go through a full options appraisal, including proper public consultation, they will.

So "Power to the Pissed-off People", I say, for without this I beleive it would be very much a permanent "business as usual scenario" for government agencies and consulting companies.