Tempered Radicals: How People Use Difference to Inspire Change at Work

People who hope to "fit in without selling out" operate on a fault line, says Meyerson. While contributing to their companies' success, they support agendas that are often at odds with the dominant culture. This can involve their social identities, such as race, gender, or sexual orientation, or their philosophical values and beliefs, such as a concern for social justice, environmental sustainability, or family-friendly working conditions. They are not radicals in the sense that they want to enact a marked departure from the traditional, but tempered radicals in that they both challenge and uphold the status quo, working "within systems, not against them." Seeking to map the space between conformity and extreme radicalism, Meyerson conducted in-depth interviews with almost 200 people in three very different organizations (though both interviewees and companies were given pseudonyms, the companies are easily identifiable). The result is an insightful look at the way these people effect change, including the varieties of ways to stay true to oneself (through psychological, self-expressive, and behind-the-scenes resistance), how to leverage small wins, and how to organize collective action. There's also a lengthy chapter on the difficulties these tempered radicals face, from the psychological stress of constantly straddling a duality to the incremental lures of co-optation. Having taught in MBA programs at both the University of Michigan and Stanford University, Meyerson is an accomplished business professor; this book shows her to be a methodical researcher, sensitive interpreter of results, and well-organized and fluid writer, as well. Tempered Radicals is sure to be a beacon of inspiration for those wanting to make a difference from within and an inspiration to those who might have assumed that changing one's environment means changing one's job. --S. Ketchum

Product Description
Nearly all of us feel at odds with the organizations we work for at one time or another. Managers who are also parents struggle to succeed-and be there for their families-in companies that don't offer flextime. Women and people of color want to make their organizations better for others like themselves-without limiting their own career paths. Environmentally conscious workers seek to act on their values and climb the executive ladder at firms more concerned with profits than pollution.

While many who don't "fit in" with the corporate culture choose to assimilate or leave, Tempered Radicals offers an inspiring alternative. In this provocative book, Debra Meyerson argues that this tension-between expressing our "whole selves" and building careers in companies that leave little room for differences-can pave the way for learning, leadership, and positive change in organizations.

Based on fifteen years of research and observation, Tempered Radicals reveals that adaptive, diverse, family-friendly, and socially responsible workplaces are built not by revolutionaries but by those she calls "tempered radicals"-people who successfully walk the tightrope between conformity and rebellion. Whereas "untempered" radicals use drama and heroics to effect change, these individuals work toward transformational ends with incremental means; whereas radicals lead episodically, tempered radicals lead every day-with conviction, patience, and courage.

Through stories of tempered radicals from doctors to teachers to CEOs to entrepreneurs, Meyerson illustrates how these "everyday leaders" stick to their values, assert their agendas, and provoke learning and change without jeopardizing hard-won careers. Whether one's difference stems from race, gender, sexual orientation, values, beliefs, or social perspectives, the book presents a spectrum of effective responses to the pressure to conform that range from resisting quietly to leveraging "small wins" to mobilizing others in legitimate but powerful ways.

Putting self-realization and change within everyone's reach, this book shows how to turn threats to our identities into opportunities to make a positive difference in our companies and in the world.

A tempered radical is someone who responds to an inappropriate circumstance at work in a measured and thoughtful way, that leads to improving the situation for themselves and everyone else. They want change, but do not pursue a radical way of achieving that change.

You and your spouse have busy careers. Your spouse is away overnight, and the kids are home with the baby sitter. Your boss asks you to fly to New York to negotiate a last-minute deal. What do you do? In this case, the husband politely declines to go, and asks his boss to give him more warning in the future.

In a hard-driving technology company, people gently point out that 5:30 staff meetings mean missing dinner with the kids and gradually the meetings shift to earlier in the day.

A gay man hears another executive complaining about how gay people are always showing off their sexuality. The gay man points out that he doesn’t have pictures of his partner in his office, but the man who is complaining has pictures with his wife and children. Now, who’s advertising his sexuality?

Your company makes it hard to recycle. You arrange for appropriate containers to be placed at every desk, and people use them. The cleaning staff empties them at night.

Your company says it wants to hire African-Americans, but only recruits at top-level colleges where your company is not competitive. You quietly put up notices in churches with African-American worshippers to let people know that they should apply at your company.

You want to do a social audit of your company’s performance, but no one else knows what that is. You use your training program experiences to educate others and come up with a unanimous recommendation of your group’s task force that such an audit be held. The CEO agrees to let you go ahead.

By reacting to misperceptions, oversights, and intolerance, individuals can help others to improve their perspective on what needs to be done. The environment improves, and at the right time greater gains can follow. That’s the main message of this book. It is all about leading from wherever you are in the organization, rather than a book for CEOs (although they will learn a lot about how to create and nurture a diverse workplace).

In all the environments that Professor Meyerson investigated over 15 years, she found the following process at work:

(1) People resist quietly in ways that let them stay true to themselves.

(2) Personal threats are turned into opportunities to teach and improve the situation.

(3) Focus shifts to broadening the impact of the needed change through getting support and negotiating for change.

(4) Small wins are leveraged into bigger ones through skillful improvisation.

(5) Organizing with others to take collective action that leads to bigger changes.

In each case, the person has grown beyond thinking of their career as the only game in town. They are trying to establish a wholeness with work, personal life, and self. In many ways the book reminds me of the better books on communications skills. You have to know what you want, tell people what you want, and focus on ways of getting changes made that work best.

So, the role model here is someone like Lech Walesa rather than the radical firebrand who causes confrontation and loses. Although the road is a difficult one, many people will find it psychologically and emotionally rewarding. People “do make a difference” in ways other than being lone heroes.

The book’s appendices have extensive methodological details that made the work much more understandable.

I was very impressed with this book. It’s the kind of subtle, careful work that you don’t expect to find coming from a business school professor, or Harvard Business School Press. Professor Meyerson describes herself as a tempered radical also, who felt apart from the system even while she worked on her doctorate. I look forward to reading her next book.

What should be changed at your workplace? How can you help others to understand the need to change? How can your intervention help build small wins that will establish the validity of the principles you favor? How can you then build broader support?

Be the role model you would like to have at work!

Inspiration and hope   November 4, 2001
DK (Boston, MA USA)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

Many of us work in places where we have a vision for how things could be better -- how we could work differently, treat people more respectfully, act on our values. If only, we think -- we could do something different--then we would really feel good about ourselves and proud about the places we work. This book inspires you to lead that change, to act on your vision. In these times when the impulse is to hunker down and just do our jobs, Meyerson gives us role models of people who have been everyday heroes, leading change that made their organizations better for everybody.


A Book About Real Leadership   October 17, 2001
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

Meyerson's wonderful book has many virtues, it is well-written, it is well-researched, and it has diverse and lively examples. Best of all, it shows that leadership is not something that is reserved for the most senior managers in an organization, but rather something that can be done by anyone. Another great virtue is that it shows how to make a difference in a company without selling out or faking it. It should be required reading for everyone before they enter the workforce. Companies would make more money, treat their people better, and be filled with more joy and less fear if leaders at all levels followed her wise advice, and adopted the spirited, but constructive, attituide that exudes from this fine book.


Tempered Radicals has every day life applicability   October 12, 2001
Jackson (Marin County, CA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

I bought this book because of it's universal applicability to business and Corporate America. What I found was that Debra Meyerson's book provided insight and a template on how to successfully effect change in any established group dyanic or organization from businesses to schools to non-profits to a small circle of friends. She effectively shows how a person can be true to their belief system and values, yet be a strong contributor in an organization that may not share the same beliefs...resulting in small but positive changes that pave the way for others.


A creative approach to the workplace   October 12, 2001
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

In the opening pages of Tempered Radicals, it is easy to see that Professor Meyerson has hit upon some very important issues in the workplace. As you read on, she also provides interesting and effective solutions. This book is well researched and thought out. It represents a very creative perspective on the modern organization. A definite read for all!