How to Become an Innovator: Why the Troublemakers Bring Business Results

If you’re a regular subscriber to business magazines or love reading entrepreneurial websites then we’re sure many people have told you the ‘rules of business’. But learning how to become an innovator means breaking the rules.

There are thousands of online articles with titles such as 10 easy steps you must take for a successful business or 13 rules to building a great business. However, it’s not these rule followers changing the world. Instead, you’ll find it’s the troublemakers bringing positive results.

Take, for example, David Tran, a refugee from Vietnam who turned his homemade Sriracha hot sauce into one of the world’s best-loved condiments.

Most business rules would undoubtedly advise Tran to raise prices as demand and inflation increases. But, in his role as a perennial rule breaker, Tran hasn’t raised the wholesale price since 1980.

Similarly, businesses should at least know exactly where their product is sold, right? Tran doesn’t. In an interview with Quartz, Tran said he knows it is sold in the US, Canada, and Europe but “it’s probably sold elsewhere too”.

Instead, the entrepreneur, whose company sold 20 million bottles for $60 million last year, is much more interested in keeping the product as close and delicious to how it was when we first created it in the 1970s.

But why do troublemakers bring positive business results?

Breaking Rules is Great for Innovation

The oldest cliché in the book of business is: “Think outside the box”. Well, that’s all breaking the rules is. It is about going against conventional wisdom to find something innovative.

Some of the greatest business successes ever have come from troublemakers who have gone against what people told them to do. Take Alexander Graham Bell, the first person to be granted a patent for the telephone, as an example.

Bell, now known as the Father of Modern Communication, attempted to sell his patent to the Western Union in the late 1800s. But the great Scottish inventor was scoffed at by the company’s president, who labeled the telephone little more than a toy.  

And Bell’s story is just one of millions that could be told...

Where would Sir James Dyson be if he accepted the traditional set-up of the vacuum cleaner? Where would Elon Musk be without venturing into increasingly varied business markets?

The truth is that playing it safe in business is often more dangerous than looking to break the rules. That’s because breaking rules sparks innovation. And innovation is essential for a truly great business.

We will leave the last words to Sam Walton, founder of Walmart and Sam’s Club:

“If everybody is doing it one way, there's a good chance you can find your niche by going exactly in the opposite direction.”

It Helps to Earn Respect

We all love a rule breaker who gets results. Some of the most loved movie characters are lovable rogues. There’s Han Solo, Captain Jack Sparrow, James Bond, Tony Stark… the list is endless. But why have we got such affection for them?

Well, it’s partly because they are willing to push the boundaries and go places others won’t. And it’s exactly the same in business. We love the boss who is willing to break the convention and let their staff go home early on a Friday.

We love the leaders who make work interesting by mixing things up. It gives staff the chance to be creative and they tend to respect bosses who are willing to bend the rules for them.

By leading from the front and showing that certain rule breaking is allowed, troublemaking bosses can inspire the staff they manage.

You are Never Comfortable

In business, there is nothing more dangerous than being in your comfort zone. By staying in a cozy bubble, you may feel safe, but in reality, you won’t be taking your business anywhere.

Being a troublemaker and breaking the rules, however, is a sure-fire way to make sure you are anything but comfortable. Over the years successful businesses have been mixing things up in a number of different ways.

Take, for example, tech specialists IBM.

One of the key reasons they flourish in today’s ever-competitive tech world is because they demand innovation. Its original core business model was in punch card machines. But rather than sticking with what they know, IBM then moved into digital computers.

Now it is probably best known for its software, databases and much, much more. Their original business model had become outdated and obsolete. By breaking the rules and changing their plan, they had a new focus and drive.

There are No Rules

The – uncomfortable for some – truth is that there are no rules. Not really.

As entrepreneur guidance coach Chris Ducker says: ‘There are entrepreneurs out there flourishing as professional cuddlers, as reading coaches for literate people, and as shippers of snow. Do you think these people would’ve ever gotten started building a successful business if they’d listened to the rules? The same is true for you.’

He puts the need to follow rules down to our desire to feel safe. If businesses or entrepreneurs take a path that others tell them to then they feel like they’re assured of success. But that’s not the case.

The success of a business will not come mapped out with a point by point strategy. It will be a twisty, turning path full of pitfalls, mistakes and, yes, the odd broken rule or two.

There are certainly best practices that are prudent to follow but ultimately it is your business, your life and if you think there is a gap in the market or there is something then that needs to be changed then do it.

So how do you know which rules to break?

Ducker proposes a thought experiment.

The next time you see a ‘business rule you have to follow’ ask yourself what the rule actually is. He says, most of the time, the answer will be laughable because the rule doesn’t really exist.