Todd B. Kashdan “The Art of Insubordination” to Dissent and Defy Effectively

The Art of Insubordination challenges conventional wisdom about conformity. Todd B. Kashdan’s groundbreaking work explores effective dissent strategies, empowering readers to stand up against harmful norms. This book is a must-read for anyone seeking to make a positive impact in their personal or professional life.

Discover how to become a catalyst for change – read on to unlock the secrets of successful insubordination.

Genres

Self-help, Leadership, Social Science, Business, Personal Development, Organizational Behavior, Communication, Politics, Philosophy, Psychology, Motivation and Inspiration, Social Sciences, Politics, Government, Political Advocacy, Human Rights, Emotional, Health, Purpose, Strengths, Wellbeing, Mental Health, Sociology, Language

The Art of Insubordination delves into the psychology of nonconformity and provides practical tools for constructive dissent. Kashdan argues that challenging the status quo is essential for progress and innovation. He presents research-backed strategies for effective opposition, including:

1. Cultivating minority influence
2. Building alliances
3. Framing dissent positively
4. Timing interventions strategically
5. Developing resilience against backlash

The book explores historical examples of successful insubordination and offers guidance on when and how to speak up. Kashdan emphasizes the importance of ethical dissent and distinguishes it from mere contrarianism. He also addresses the potential costs of nonconformity and provides tactics for minimizing personal and professional risks.

Throughout the text, readers learn to:

• Identify problematic norms and practices
• Overcome fear of dissent
• Communicate opposing views persuasively
• Navigate power dynamics
• Foster environments that welcome diverse perspectives

Review

The Art of Insubordination offers a fresh perspective on the value of principled dissent. Kashdan’s writing is engaging and accessible, blending scientific research with compelling anecdotes. The book’s practical approach sets it apart from theoretical works on nonconformity.

Strengths include:

• Comprehensive strategies for effective dissent
• Balanced discussion of benefits and risks
• Actionable advice for various contexts

However, some readers might find:

• Certain examples overly US-centric
• Limited exploration of dissent in non-Western cultures

Overall, this book is an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to drive positive change. It’s particularly relevant for leaders, activists, and individuals in fields where challenging norms is crucial for progress. The Art of Insubordination equips readers with the tools to dissent effectively and contribute meaningfully to their communities and organizations.

Introduction: Learn how to elegantly, eloquently, and expertly flip the bird to the majority.

The Art of Insubordination (2022) is a research-based, science-backed, anecdote-packed ode to all the rebels and revolutionaries out there. It highlights the importance of dissent in society and teaches aspiring nonconformists the skills they need to confidently challenge majority viewpoints, manage discomfort when rebelling, and avoid losing hold of their most cherished values in the process.

Do you balk at doing what you’re told? Have a near-compulsive need to rebel? Maybe you have an authority problem. And that’s not a bad thing.

We’re here to talk about insubordination –⁠ more specifically, principled insubordination. If insubordination indicates any type of rebellion against authority, principled insubordination is a type of deviance that’s specifically intended to improve society while causing minimal harm. Principled insubordination means supporting worthy and important ideas, regardless of what the majority thinks about them,⁠ for the benefit of humanity.

This summary explores how to become a principled insubordinate. It shows that taking a stand is empowering – and possible. Are you ready?

In this summary, you’ll learn

• why you shouldn’t shoot free throws like (most) basketball pros;
• how you can get the majority on your side; and
• what to do when your team of rebels ends up winning.

Two Ways to Shoot a Free Throw

Did you know there are two ways of completing a free throw in basketball? One is the way you’re used to seeing the pros do it on TV. You raise the ball up to eye level, with one of your hands supporting the ball and the other keeping it steady. Then you flick your supporting hand up and push the ball toward the hoop while using the other hand to guide it in the right direction. For an optimal shot, the ball should arc upward between 45 to 52 degrees and spin backward to lessen its speed and energy.

Shooting a free throw this way is kind of an overwhelming physics experiment. So maybe it’s no wonder that so many players –⁠ even otherwise amazing Hall of Famers –⁠ totally suck at it. For example, Wilt Chamberlain’s career free throw success rate was only 51.1 percent. Shaquille O’Neal’s was hardly better at 52.7 percent.

The thing is, there’s actually a much more accurate way of shooting free throws. That’s the underhand method, and it works like this. You rock the basketball back and forth between your legs, grip it with both hands, and then arc it upward toward the hoop. It ain’t pretty. But it works. One Hall of Famer, Rick Barry, always shot his free throws underhanded. And guess what his success rate was? An incredible 90 percent over his entire career.

So why the heck, you might be asking, don’t more basketball players shoot underhand? Well, there’s a very simple –⁠ but kind of depressing –⁠ answer. Because in the basketball world, underhanded shooting is considered “girly” or “granny shooting.” Basically, players are too self-conscious to do it. In college basketball, only two players shot underhand in the entire league, and one of them was Rick Barry’s son.

It’s rare for a player to buck the norm and engage in an act of inspiring insubordination. But it isn’t just rare in basketball. In all areas of life, acts of nonconformity are scarce. That’s thanks to the powerful human tendency to conform, to which all of us –⁠ yes, you too! –⁠ are subject.

We can already hear your objections. It’s other people who act like lemmings following each other off cliffs. You, on the other hand, are a thinker, a reader, a questioner. You analyze, challenge, and take risks.

But do you, really? Countless studies confirm that, far from being purely rational beings, we judge people and situations using mental shortcuts called biases.

Take one study, conducted by Scott Eidelman of the University of Arkansas and Chris Crandall of the University of Kansas. They told different groups of participants that the practice of acupuncture had been around for either 250, 500, 1,000, or 2,000 years. When participants thought that acupuncture had existed for a longer period of time, they felt more confident that acupuncture was “a good technique” and “ought to be used to relieve pain and restore health.” Were they making a rational analysis of acupuncture’s potential benefits? No –⁠ they were just making a judgment based on how long they thought the practice had been around. Basically, people blindly assume that something is better if it’s been around longer. We humans have a natural inclination to prefer the status quo.

Our motivation to conform extends far beyond acupuncture. It also prompts us to accept systems that affect and oppress us. For example, a survey of 6,637 Americans found that 33 percent of Black people reported being treated no worse than white people by the US criminal justice system. However, according to 40 years of data from the US Department of Justice, Black adults are almost six times more likely to be imprisoned than whites.

What this indicates is that people tend to support systems that are already in place, even when they harm us. Why? Well, because rejecting a system means a kind of revolution. And revolutions imply new systems that can potentially hold even greater uncertainty and threat than the existing ones. Even when we’re treated unfairly under a particular system, we still feel comforted by the stability and security it provides.

This is an unfortunate psychological reality. And the upshot is that it’s really hard to think differently, dissent, and deviate from the status quo! As an aspiring insubordinate, it’s important to acknowledge that reality so you can ultimately overcome it. And that’s what we’re going to discuss next.

Overcoming Bias

New York City, 1854. Elizabeth Jennings, a young teacher, is on her way to church, where she’s the organ player. She can’t walk all the way, so she hails a cab –⁠ which, in those days, is a horse-drawn streetcar.

When she gets on the streetcar, the conductor promptly and rudely issues a reminder to Jennings. Jennings is a Black woman, and, according to the New York City transport policy, any white passenger who gets on has the right to ask Jennings to leave the streetcar. Furthermore, the conductor has the right to physically enforce the white passengers’ wishes. Basically, Jennings can be unceremoniously thrown off the streetcar at a moment’s notice.

By this point in her life, Jennings is tired –⁠ tired of being told what she can and can’t do because of the color of her skin. So she fires back at the conductor: “I am a respectable person, born and raised in New York, and I have never been insulted before while going to church!” She adds, “You are a good for nothing impudent fellow, who insults genteel people on their way to church.”

Outraged, the conductor grabs Jennings. Then a nearby police officer joins in, and together, they drag her off the streetcar and onto the road. When additional police arrive, they arrest Jennings rather than help her.

After the incident, one lawyer –⁠ and one lawyer only –⁠ agrees to represent Jennings in court. With his assistance, Jennings doesn’t have to pay a fine or serve jail time. Instead, she’s able to sue the transit service for $225 –⁠ a hefty sum back in the day, equivalent to a civil servant’s yearly salary.

After Jennings wins the case, word begins to spread. Others start standing up against the racist transit service policy. And the following year, the transit authority implements a new one. Now, Black people are given equal access to New York’s public transport system, all thanks to Jennings’s act of principled insubordination.

Odds are you’ve never heard of Jennings before. But what her story proves is that the mere presence of nonconformists in society has a way of pushing it forward –⁠ even when history forgets these nonconformists existed. Diverse perspectives lead to the development of creative, counterintuitive ideas that actually work. And teams of people perform better when principled insubordination is encouraged.

In one study, for instance, researchers observed groups of work teams. They randomly selected one person from some of the groups to be trained in principled insubordination. The teams with principled insubordinates produced more original product ideas, as objectively rated by outside experts, than teams that lacked a trained insubordinate. The downside was that the teams with insubordinates experienced more conflict, disagreement, and contention. But the rebels actually received higher performance ratings from their peers than conformists. They may have slowed down the group’s cohesion initially – but ultimately, performance and creativity were enhanced.

To encourage principled insubordination, work toward creating a culture where dissent is not only tolerated, but encouraged. Show rebels that their weird ideas will be heard and tried out in reality. This is the way to unlocking its power.

In the process, you may discover that one act of rebellion tends to lead to another. Research has uncovered the surprising statistic that if more than 25 percent of a group consists of rebels, the group eventually decides on the minority suggestion rather than the original, majority version. If fewer than 20 percent of a group consists of rebels, the minority has no impact.

So how do you break through that 25 percent threshold and start effecting change? The key is communication, which we’ll explore next.

Talking the Talk

Ever heard of the punk rock band Fugazi? Today, the name isn’t as well known as all the artists they influenced, from Nirvana and Jay-Z to Kesha and Blink-182. But Fugazi’s legacy can be found all throughout modern music. And, as chance would have it, the band members were also some of the most principled insubordinates in all of musical history.

Unlike other musical giants, Fugazi’s goal was never to make money. Because they were anti-consumerist and anti-corporatist, they never charged fans more than five dollars to attend one of their concerts. They repeatedly refused offers from major record labels. They never hired roadies, booking agents, distributors, or accountants; they slept in fans’ living rooms; and they always recorded their own albums.

Fugazi also adhered to a lifestyle called “straight edge,” which means they refused to take drugs, drink, smoke, eat meat, or have nonconsexual sex. The members of the band adhered strictly to these rules. But –⁠ and this is a key point –⁠ they never pushed the straight edge lifestyle on their fans. They repeatedly stated in interviews that their way was one way but not the only way.

As a result, Fugazi never appeared to be preaching. Ironically, that made fans more inclined to listen to the band’s opinions and end up adopting straight edge for themselves. According to scientists, people with minority status –⁠ which includes rebels whose viewpoints contradict the majority –⁠ are more likely to instigate change if they’re consistent in what they say without being too rigid.

Fugazi exemplifies many of the factors that – scientists now know – help people with minority opinions effectively persuade others. If you, as an insubordinate, disregard them, you’re essentially ensuring your failure. Here are a few tactics you can implement easily.

For starters, try to frame yourself as a member of your audience’s in-group rather than an outsider. Humans have an innate tendency to favor those that agree with them and who they perceive as “like them” in some way. You can use this to your advantage. Position yourself as a member of the person’s in-group by establishing a common bond with them.

For instance, say you’re politically conservative but support stricter gun safety legislation. Remind your fellow conservative friends that you share many of their beliefs and have a track record of voting for Republicans. Then state your case for why there should be stricter gun safety laws.

Another important tactic is to ensure that your communication style is sparking listeners’ curiosity rather than their fear. The way you present your message is extremely important. So, go out of your way to speak in a neutral, nonthreatening way. If members of a majority perspective view your argument as a threat, they’re more likely to double down on their existing opinions than shift to your side.

But the single best thing that you as a dissenter can do? Be flexibly consistent. In 1994, Dr. Wendy Wood of Duke University synthesized 143 experiments that examined the capacity of minorities to exert influence over a majority. Through the analysis, she discovered that the best thing a minority can do is present a consistent message over time.

This means that in order to effect change, you must present yourself as a true believer. Change is challenging for everyone, and the majority is always looking for reasons not to do it. If you’ve hedged on your positions or, worse, displayed hypocritical behavior in the past, the majority sees you as lacking conviction. On the other hand, if you present yourself as the living embodiment of a cause –⁠ just like Fugazi with their anti-consumerist and straight-edge beliefs –⁠ the majority will be much less likely to find fault with you or your arguments.

One caveat: this doesn’t mean you should ram your message down people’s throats. This is where the flexible part of flexible consistency comes in. Stick to your guns on the most important issues. But on the issues that are less important to you, try to bend a little bit –⁠ concede a point from the other side, show genuine concern for the majority, and be respectful. Such efforts will go a long way in endearing others to you and your point of view.

Managing Discomfort

Back in the 1970s, police departments dealt woefully with cases of rape. When survivors reported crimes, officers often dismissed the survivors and handled physical evidence improperly –⁠ even offensively. During investigations, they would contaminate the evidence by, for instance, cutting off survivors’ shirts with scissors. It was so bad that many women advised each other not to even bother going to the station to report being assaulted –⁠ it would only traumatize them further.

But in 1976, a woman named Martha Goddard decided to do something about it. She and a group of medical experts, prosecutors, and law enforcement officers got together to devise a standardized rape kit that could be used to collect evidence in a safe, noninvasive manner.

In order to convince police officers and health-care workers to adopt the kits, Goddard visited police precincts and hospitals every day of the week and fundraised to spread awareness. Eventually, Goddard’s relentless devotion to her cause paid off, and the use of rape kits is now a standard practice across the country.

Back in the late ’70s, the social environment wasn’t at all sympathetic to rape survivors. Terms like “date rape” and “marital rape” didn’t exist, and judges regularly defended rapists by victim-blaming. On top of all that, Goddard was a survivor of sexual assault herself, meaning that she had to repeatedly relive her trauma in order to obtain some measure of justice. Yet she persevered. How did she manage to do it? And how can you follow in her footsteps as an aspiring insubordinate?

Common wisdom says that the best way to respond to distress is to minimize it as best you can. But recently, psychologists have discovered that trying to reduce and avoid the experience of distress can actually exacerbate it. Instead, we should learn to withstand and manage our distress.

One way to do that is by cultivating psychological flexibility, which is a fancy way of saying “mental resilience.” If you’re psychologically flexible, you have the ability to quickly bounce back and recover from pain and distress so you can resume making progress.

When you’re seeking to cultivate psychological flexibility, there are two directions you can go: hunting for meaning or escaping from pain. Let’s look at one example of each type.

Hunting for meaning is all about reminding yourself of your original purpose for rebelling. When faced with an emotionally challenging event, ask yourself, “What and who is important to me?” Work on ensuring that you have clarity about your mission and its moral basis. Doing this will keep you grounded, help you absorb the pain of criticism and complaint, and remind you of the beliefs that are propping up your fight.

When it comes to escaping pain, your goal is to acknowledge the strain you’re feeling and figure out what coping mechanisms you might be using. Determine this by asking yourself, “What am I doing to reduce, avoid, or control unwanted mental content?” In other words, how are you trying to avoid or mask the unpleasant sensations you’re feeling as a result of rebelling? Maybe you’re seeking distractions by watching TV or scrolling through social media, or maybe you’re taking your anger out on your family members.

Instead of using these strategies, try cognitive defusion instead. The name sounds pretentious and complicated, but it’s basically just an exercise in which you create a mental space between yourself and your thoughts. Treat your mind as if it’s completely separate from you – like it’s some kind of opinion generator. You can be playful or serious depending on your preference. Say, “Thank you, Mind, for being so unhelpful this morning,” or “Mind, do you think readers will enjoy this section of the chapter?” This is a great way of reminding yourself that your thoughts are just thoughts and don’t represent the sum total of your reality.

These tips will help you crack open your jar of psychological flexibility and avoid shrinking from adversity. Cultivate psychological flexibility and you’ll be able to rebel – even when it’s painful.

Winning Responsibly

Evo Morales is the former president of Bolivia. He was born into extreme poverty in his country’s marginalized Aboriginal community. He and his family lived in a traditional adobe farmhouse where one small room served as kitchen, dining room, and bedroom. At just five years old, Morales had to work as a llama shepherd so that his family could afford their daily meals.

As an adult, Morales became active in left-wing politics. He campaigned on a platform of poverty reduction, investment in education and hospitals, increases in minimum wage, higher taxes on the wealthy, and rights for Aboriginal peoples. Once he was elected, Morales helped his country into a period of economic growth by taking back control of oil and gas production. As a result, salaries increased, unemployment fell by 50 percent, and literacy rates rose. Between 2005 and 2018, Bolivia became Latin America’s fastest growing economy.

However, there was a dark side to Morales’s reign. While consolidating power, he and his party quashed dissent. His government regularly intimidated journalists and blacklisted dissenters. In 2013, Morales issued a presidential decree that allowed the government to disband civil society organizations if it wished to. During a 2011 protest, according to one account, Morales’s police bound protestors’ faces with duct tape to shut their mouths. Additionally, although Bolivia’s constitution only allows a president to serve two terms, Morales wormed his way into a third term – and even attempted to stay for a fourth.

What happened with Morales unfortunately isn’t unique. Oftentimes, after insubordinates successfully gain power, they end up abandoning their original values. Just recall the French Revolution, which at first promised liberty, equality, and fraternity –⁠ but ended with nearly 300,000 citizen arrests and some 17,000 executions under Maximilien Robespierre’s Reign of Terror. Frighteningly, dissenters who take power fail to remain self-aware and slide into extremity. Why does this happen, from a psychological perspective?

Well, much of it is related to our old friends – the psychological biases that cause us to preferentially treat those who agree and think like us over those who disagree. We empathize with those on our side but fail to do so with our enemies. As a result, newly successful insubordinates end up persecuting the former majority, causing needless suffering, and discounting the fallen majority’s potentially useful ideas.

As a rebel, it’s important that you stay alert to this dynamic and push back against it. Instead of ignoring your former adversaries, reach out to them and try to establish a shared identity with them. You might not be able to do this on ideological grounds, but you can almost always find something else that unites you with the new minority, whether it’s common hobbies or interests, life circumstances, or past experiences. What new norms or rituals might you create to establish a shared connection with those you formerly considered to be outside of your tribe?

As always, be sure to regularly remind yourself of your core, established values –⁠ the ones that got you here in the first place. Be self-aware in asking yourself these questions: Are your actions truly consistent with your desired legacy? Will you like the way that future generations remember your accomplishments after you gained power? Are there ways of exercising your power that are more humane, rational, and reasonable?

Finally, commit to two key principles of leadership. First, block measures or rules that degrade or unfairly treat the minority. And second, block measures that give extra privileges to the majority. Now that you’ve leveled the playing field and won equal rights for your side, do your best to ensure that it stays level for the next generation of principled insubordinates to come.

Final Summary

The key message in this summary is:

Thanks to cognitive biases that cause us to unconsciously prop up and support the status quo, rebelling against mainstream systems and perspectives is difficult. However, creating safe environments for dissenters and actively testing out their creative ideas is one way to neutralize our tendency to conform. As an insubordinate, the best way to speak to the majority is by keeping your communication nonthreatening and, most importantly, making sure your message and actions are consistent over time. If you can manage your discomfort by maintaining a focus on your purpose and original goals, you can continue to rebel even when it’s most difficult –⁠ and ensure that you don’t lose sight of yourself when you eventually win over the majority.

About the author

Todd B. Kashdan, Ph.D., is professor of psychology at George Mason University, and a leading authority on well-being, curiosity, courage, and resilience. He has published more than 220 scientific articles, his work has been cited more than 35,000 times, and he received the American Psychological Association’s Award for Distinguished Scientific Early Career Contributions to Psychology. His books Curious? and The Upside of Your Dark Side have been translated into more than fifteen languages. His writing has appeared in the Harvard Business Review, National Geographic, and other publications, and his research is featured regularly in media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, and Time. He’s a twin with twin daughters (plus one more), with plans to rapidly populate the world with great conversationalists.

Table of Contents

Preface: Is This Book for You?
PART I IN PRAISE OF INSUBORDINATION
1: The Critical Importanc; e of Cartwheeling in the Library
2: The Strange Things We Do to Be Liked
How we’re wired to fit in
3: Renegades Rock
Why principled rebellion matters so much
PART II THE NON-CONFORMIST’S COOKBOOK
4: Talk Persuasively
How to win over an audience of skeptical conformists
5: Attract People Who’ve Got Your Back
How to off-load some of the pressure while defying the status quo
6: Build Mental Fortitude
How to handle the negative emotions and pangs of rejection when rebelling
7: Win Responsibly
How to prevent moral hypocrisy if and when you become the new majority
PART III HARNESSING DISOBEDIENCE
8: Engage the Outrageous
How to overcome barriers that prevent us from heeding unconventional ideas
9: Extract Wisdom from “Weirdos”
How to cultivate rebel-friendly cultures in group settings
10: Raising Insubordinate Kids
Evidence-based strategies for training the next generation of heroes in waiting
Epilogue
Whipping Up Your Next Rebellion Masterpiece
How to get started with the non-conformist’s cookbook
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index