Sixteen Ways to Recognize a Rudolph

Excerpted from The Rudolph Factor: Finding the Bright Lights that Drive Innovation in Your Business (Wiley, July 2009, ISBN: 978-04704510-3-8, $21.95), by Cyndi Laurin, PhD, and Craig Morningstar

1. First and foremost, Rudolphs are naturally creative and innovative thinkers. Some Rudolphs may appear a bit eccentric to the people around them.

2. Rudolphs generally share unconventional ways to solve problems and have an easier time than most at identifying the root cause of a problem. They will express frustration at putting band-aids on symptoms of problems.
They like to get their hands (or hooves) dirty when it comes to problem solving.

3. Rudolphs involuntarily spend an average of four to six hours per day (outside their normal workday) thinking about new ways of doing things, or simply making things better for their organizations.

4. Rudolphs are passionate about their work and light up when talking about their role or a particular project they are working on.

5. They often ask "Why?" even when it is not the most popular question to be asking, which can make people around them feel uncomfortable.

6. They tend to challenge the status quo because they believe questioning it is of value and benefit to the organization. Challenging the status quo is also how they discover what they need in order to solve a problem. It may appear as if they are trying to rock the boat just for the sake of rocking the boat, but that generally is not the case with Rudolphs.

7. Rudolphs see their world through a lens of possibility, opportunity, and potential. This is the driving motivation behind their involuntary, creative, and innovative thinking. Often times, the opportunities presented are nontraditional or unconventional in nature.

8. Rudolphs do not have the intention of self-promotion—in other words, their actions are not based on climbing corporate ladders. They certainly appreciate being recognized—even promoted—for their work, but it is not the primary motivation for their actions.

9. They also tend to easily connect the dots that others do not see. In other words, they have the ability to quickly synthesize many variables to solve problems or make improvements. It may appear to non-Rudolphs as if their ideas come out of the blue or that there is no rhyme or reason behind their thinking. When this occurs, question Rudolphs to clarify or further explain their thought process.

10. Rudolphs have a greater awareness of dynamic systems than non-Rudolphs. They tend to be natural systems thinkers and see the whole forest rather than a single tree...or just the bark on the tree. They may express frustration if people around them are having conversations about the bark, rather than the forest.

11. They do not want to be an entrepreneur or run their own business; however, they think like one. In some cases, for their own mental and emotional well-being, some Rudolphs will leave their organization and start their own business because the organizational work environment can take its toll on their enthusiasm and natural creative thinking.

12. Rudolphs prefer to leverage the name, reputation, resources, etc. of an organization, rather than starting and managing their own businesses, which would take time away from being creative and innovative.

13. Rudolphs prefer collaborating with others versus going it alone—although, many may appear as loners to non-Rudolphs because they have chosen to not play the game.

14. They have the ability—and at the very minimum, the confidence—to turn their ideas into action. If they feel they do not have the appropriate skills, they will do whatever is necessary to gain the abilities to transform their innovative ideas/solutions into reality.

15. They act on their ideas, sometimes without knowing how they will accomplish them. You might hear a Rudolph say, "It can be done—I don't know how—but I can see it." The how is always revealed in time.

16. Rudolphs rarely rely on convention to put their ideas into action. They tend to appear like trailblazers, troublemakers, or loose cannons to non-Rudolphs.