99 Ways to Influence Change, #59: Incite a riot

July 29, 2010

Imagine a group of people who are so fed up with the current state of things that they all band together to stand up and do something about it. What if you could harness the energy of a crowd who just decides that enough is enough, we’re going to revolt? Perhaps you could even create the circumstances, and incite a riot!

Anger and frustration can be powerful forces that tend to be pent up. Once they get strong enough, they only need a trigger to let loose all that energy. Of course, you don’t want to literally incite a riot, with all the chaos and danger that word invokes. But, if you can feed the fire to the point where people say, “We just can’t take it anymore!” about the current situation, then your job is to focus all that pent-up frustration into a positive and constructive direction.

Most organizational leaders prefer not to work up their employees into a frenzy, and also like to keep the dissatisfaction to a minimum. But if you need to develop a strong sense of urgency to move away from the status quo, inciting a riot might be the way to go.