The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership

About the Author

Steven B. Sample is an electrical engineer, musician, professor, inventor, and the 10th president of the University of Southern California (USC). Throughout his illustrious career, he has exemplified leadership through innovation and a keen understanding of human nature. His contrarian approach to leadership challenges conventional wisdom, urging leaders to think independently and make decisions that might seem counterintuitive to traditional leadership norms. Sample's insights are not just theoretical; they are grounded in his extensive experience leading complex organizations and navigating the challenges that come with such roles.

Main Idea

In The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership, Steven B. Sample presents a compelling case for breaking free from conventional leadership wisdom. He argues that effective leaders often need to adopt unconventional strategies, think independently, and resist the urge to conform to popular opinions or traditional methodologies. The book emphasizes the importance of 'thinking gray' and 'thinking free,' advocating for leaders to delay forming opinions until all relevant facts are considered and to entertain creative, sometimes outrageous ideas without the immediate constraints of practicality.

Table of Contents

1. Thinking Gray, and Free
2. Artful Listening
3. Experts: Saviors and Charlatans
4. You Are What You Read
5. Give the Devil His Due
6. Decisions, Decisions
7. Know Which Hill You're Willing to Die On
8. Work for Those Who Work for You
9. Follow the Leader

Thinking Gray, and Free

Contrarian leaders think differently from other people. They maintain their intellectual independence by thinking gray and enhance their intellectual creativity by thinking free. Contrarian wisdom holds that judgments should be arrived at slowly or not at all. Most people immediately categorize things as good or bad, true or false, friend or foe. But truly effective leaders see shades of gray. The essence of thinking gray is this: Don't form an opinion about an important matter until you've heard all the relevant facts and arguments or until the circumstances force you to form an opinion.

Steven B. Sample explains,

"Resist the temptation to immediately classify everything you read or hear as either true or false, good or bad, right or wrong, useless or useful. Binary thinking can lead to disaster."

This mindset helps leaders avoid the pitfalls of premature judgment and groupthink.

Three Dangers of Binary Thinking

• Premature Opinions: Forming opinions too quickly closes off the mind to other facts and arguments.
• Flip-Flopping: A leader who changes their stance based on the last argument heard loses credibility.
• Herd Mentality: Leaders who can't think independently are easily swayed by popular opinion.

To illustrate this, Sample references the American jury system, where jurors are instructed to suspend judgment until all evidence is presented. This approach ensures a well-considered and reasoned verdict.

Thinking Free

Thinking free is closely related to thinking gray. It involves considering ideas without immediate practical constraints. Sample likens this to staying out in the cold long enough to become truly uncomfortable, thus pushing the boundaries of creative thinking. He states,

"The key to thinking free is to first allow your mind to contemplate really outrageous ideas, and only later apply constraints of practicality, practicability, legality, cost, time, and ethics."

This approach fosters innovation by allowing leaders to explore possibilities beyond conventional limits.