Charles Darwin's revolutionary ideas about evolution are once again making waves, but this time in a way that offers governments and other organizations a tool for overcoming systemic challenges through the evolution of the way work is done. Darwin's theory of natural selection was simple but significant: Variation occurs naturally within any population, and nature will favor and spread characteristics that are advantageous for survival. Like a species, a workforce can go through a similar evolutionary process driven by individuals with unusual but favorable behaviors. These outliers, or "positive deviants," sometimes bend the rules, but their practices enable their success and survival in the workplace. Organizations can nurture this positively deviant behavior through a process that already is helping to solve public health, nutrition, education and business problems across the globe.
To read the original article: What Darwin Can Teach Government
