Lessons from the Rule Breakers
These 'Mavericks at Work' use fresh thinking to win at business
Run a ramrod business. Successful mavericks are open-minded-but never flaky or disorganized. When Marc Andreessen, cofounder of Netscape, started his next venture, Opsware, he had eyes in the back of his head-thanks to the bruising he took when facing off with Microsoft in the Internet browser wars. At Opsware, Andreessen compiled a list called "Ten Reasons We're Going to Go Out of Business," to keep the staff focused. He had learned that mavericks test limits and challenge the status quo-but must still be guided by bedrock business tactics.
At SEI Investments, a financial services firm near Philadelphia, whimsy even helps maintain a competitive edge. The company's headquarters is a bucolic campus of green, purple, and blue farmlike buildings. The lobby houses fanciful artworks. There are no special perks for executives, and everybody works at open workstations that can be wheeled to new locations as people team up for various projects. Yet SEI is a highly profitable, disciplined firm that has been operating since 1968. And the colorful environment, says CEO Al West, is meant to reinforce the primacy of fresh, fast thinking. "Winning is about being able to change as fast as, or faster than, the world is changing," he says. So think big, and follow your passions-and don't lose your focus for a single second.
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