Disruptive teammates

At my previous job, a colleague in my group (I'll call him N~) was quite difficult to work with. He had a difficult time communicating and we had a tough time understanding him. It was not his accent - he spoke decent English - but rather the way he thought that put him at odds with the rest of the group. Often times it seemed to me and others that he argued over mundane matters. When he spoke at meetings, there was a feeling that the points he raised were obscure. It was fairly obvious that nobody paid much attention. Most people avoided N~ like a leech and often, he cut a lonely figure at company events and the cafeteria.

I find it easy to communicate with most folks, but I found my former colleague to be an exception. We sat in opposite cubicles and the few conversations we had were uncomfortable at best. N~'s thoughts were so disruptive that even a simple conversation about the weather turned into an excruciating exchange. But when it came to technical issues, I thought he had some cogent and powerful ideas that the team would benefit from.

I bring this up because I subscribe to the view that a team always benefits from people who think differently from the crowd and therefore challenge the conventional view. Every team I think benefits from a contrarian view that challenges status quo.

That is easier said than done, because groups tend to form around people who think alike and behave the same. N~ thought differently and was excluded from the group. And the group just did not take his views seriously.

Cut to my current job and I have a similar situation. I~ has a PhD and is a solid engineer. She is thorough and good at what she does. But her views are often disruptive. She won't toe the party line without questioning its merits and highlighting some of its weaknesses. When she speaks, most people turn a deaf ear. To my boss' credit, he gives her a fair and patient hearing.

Again I~ is the contrarian in the group. Her approach to doing Quality Assurance (QA) is vastly different from the rest of the folks on the team. She tests software by using it in ways our customers in the field would. Traditional QA seldom ventures into that area.

I~ works for my team. She is a tough resource to manage and a huge time sink. But I think it would be a big mistake to discount the work she does just because she is difficult to get along with.