Good Troublemakers are people who make a sustained difference in an organisation while being kind, gentle, empathetic, and purposeful. They approach change with patience and care, working in ways that invite others in rather than pushing them away.
In many cultures, loudness and urgency can backfire. Sustainable change needs a different kind of troublemaker: kind, strategic, and deeply human.
Courageous but Calculated
Good troublemakers take personal risks (like looking bad, or challenging power) while actively managing or trying to mitigate systemic risks (like breaking trust, or destabilising teams). They challenge directly, but with care, practising radical candour without recklessness. They stay aware of their own triggers and blind spots, challenging themselves as much as the system.
Resilient & Persistent
Good troublemakers handle setbacks with reasonable equanimity, not losing sight of the bigger goal. Good troublemakers don't take setbacks too personally. They commit to the messy process of chasing long-term goals. They seek sustainable results, not just the rush of early wins.
Empathetic and Curious
They hold space for multiple perspectives, and resist dehumanising even when they are opposed. They resist the temptation to "punch up"—avoiding the trap of dehumanising leaders as villains—and stay curious about what drives resistance, in others, and also in themselves.
Strategically Disruptive
They focus their disruption where it shifts the system—not on surface tweaks, personal frustrations, or the seductive noise of small wins that distract from bigger change. Sometimes the most strategic move is to leave the little things alone to make space for the big things.
Persuasive & Diplomatic
They enlist and inspire others, making their ideas harder to dismiss, using data and telling stories to make their case compelling. Good troublemakers give shape and language to the woolly, complicated truths that others sense but struggle to name. They make the invisible visible, the unnamed undeniable.
Deeply Networked
Good troublemakers build alliances across levels so their ideas are tested, sharpened, and enriched by others. Networks don’t just protect them; they make the change stronger, reaching different audiences and working with a wider mix of strengths and perspectives. Good troublemakers know that effective and lasting change cannot be a solo act.
Optimistic but Pragmatic
They balance vision with humility. They don't bludgeon others with ideals —they work with what's already present, blending bold ideas with the energy, wisdom, and constraints on the ground.
You might read this list and think I'm imagining a confident, visionary hero—someone who knows the right thing to do in every situation, taking on every challenge with a smile.
But let’s bring it back to the reality of our awkward, messy selves: nobody does all of this, all of the time. I certainly don’t, as anyone who works with me could attest!
As we embrace others' humanity we embrace our own. Empathy and compassion in community means balancing strengths, sharing the work, and holding each other to a higher standard.
