Positive Deviance

Abstract

Organizations have employees who tend to deviate from norms, come up with different ways of doing things to increase their competitiveness. The effects of deviant behaviors in the organization have economical, sociological, psychological, and anthropological implications. Positive deviance (constructive deviance) is a behavior that deviates from the norms of the reference group and has positive effects on the organization. It is an endogenous source of organizational creativity that has been shown to be a powerful tool for learning and change. It is positive in terms of intention, effects, and conforms to hyper norms. It is not harmful to other employees or organization as a whole.