Planes, Pizza, and Positive Deviance
Guest Blog Post for Michigan Ross Center for Positive Organizations
I’m not a huge fan of surprises, particularly when I’m flying. I’m the guy who bookmarks the flight status page on his phone, only takes carry-on luggage, and still gets to the airport way too early. But on a recent trip home from a conference in Texas, the airport had a surprise in store for me that showed a great example of positive deviance – defined in research by CPO faculty Gretchen Spreitzer and Scott Sonenshein as an intentional behavior that departs from expectations or norms in an honorable way.