The Positive Deviance Method
Find the outliers who are already succeeding and amplify their approach
The Positive Deviance Method inverts the traditional approach to organizational or social change. Instead of importing solutions from outside or designing top-down programs, you identify the people who are already succeeding despite facing the same constraints as everyone else, and then make it easy for the rest of the group to notice and adopt their behaviors.
The method is built on Jerry Sternin's insight that you cannot bring permanent solutions in from outside. Managers naturally stamp out deviance because deviation from established standards is, by definition, a failure in a management context. But leaders understand that the deviants, the people doing things differently and getting better results, are the most valuable people in the organization. The leader's job is to find these positive deviants, catch them doing something right, give them a spotlight, and create conditions for others to follow their lead.
This framework is especially powerful because it sidesteps the immune response that most organizations mount against externally imposed change. When the solution comes from within the tribe, from someone facing the same constraints, it is far harder to dismiss as impractical or irrelevant.
- You cannot bring permanent solutions in from outside; the best solutions are already present within the community.
- Managers stamp out deviants; leaders search for them and catch them doing something right.
- The leader's job is not to impose solutions but to find the outliers, give them a spotlight, and help others follow their lead.
- Change that comes from within the tribe is far harder to dismiss than change imposed from outside.
- Every community, no matter how stuck, contains people who have already figured out a better way.
- Define the Problem and the Desired OutcomeClearly articulate what success looks like in concrete, observable terms. In Sternin's case, the metric was simple: which children were healthy and well-nourished? In a business context, it might be which team ships on time, which salesperson retains customers, or which department has the highest engagement scores.Pro tipChoose metrics that are unambiguous and that the community agrees on. The power of this method depends on outcomes being visible and indisputable.
- Identify the Positive DeviantsFind the individuals or small groups who are achieving better outcomes than everyone else despite facing the same constraints: same resources, same environment, same challenges. These are the people who have figured something out that the majority has not.Pro tipLook for the mom with the healthy kids, as Sternin did. The positive deviants are often invisible because the organization's systems are designed to enforce conformity, not to notice outliers.WarningBe careful not to confuse positive deviants with people who have unfair advantages (more resources, better connections, lucky circumstances). The power of the method requires that the deviants face the same constraints.
- Study What They Do DifferentlyObserve and document the specific behaviors, practices, and decisions that distinguish the positive deviants from the norm. These are usually small, practical differences, not grand strategies. In Vietnam, it was adding sweet potato greens to rice and feeding children more frequently.Pro tipThe differences are often surprisingly simple and even obvious in hindsight, which is exactly why they work: they are adoptable by anyone.
- Give Them a Spotlight and a PlatformCreate opportunities for the positive deviants to share what they are doing with the rest of the community. Do not extract their knowledge and present it yourself; let them demonstrate directly. The credibility comes from the fact that they are peers facing the same challenges.Pro tipSternin did not lecture villagers about nutrition; he had the successful mothers teach cooking classes to other mothers. Peer-to-peer transmission is the key.
- Create Conditions for AdoptionRemove barriers to adoption and create social reinforcement for the new behaviors. This might mean changing team structures, creating forums for sharing, or simply making it safe to try something different. The leader's role is to make following the positive deviant easier than maintaining the status quo.Pro tipDo not mandate the change. The whole power of the method is that it spreads organically because people can see it working for their peers.WarningMandating the behaviors turns this back into a top-down program and triggers the same resistance you were trying to avoid.
In Vietnamese villages where most children were malnourished, Sternin found a few mothers whose children were healthy. He discovered they added sweet potato greens and tiny shrimps to rice and fed their children more frequently. Instead of lecturing the village, he had these mothers teach cooking classes for other mothers.
The Sternins applied the same approach to hospitals struggling with high infection rates. Instead of imposing new protocols from management, they identified units and nurses who had significantly lower infection rates and studied what they did differently.
Seth Godin's newsletter at Spinnaker highlighted the breakthroughs and remarkable work of the engineers on his projects. Within a month, six engineers had voluntarily joined his team, then twenty, and eventually the entire engineering department was either assigned to or moonlighting on his projects.
Jerry Sternin went to Vietnam to help starving children. Rather than importing techniques he knew would work, he sought out the few families who were thriving despite identical conditions. He found mothers who were doing things differently: adding sweet potato greens to rice, feeding children more frequently in smaller portions. He then made it easy for these mothers to share their insights with the rest of the village. This approach was heretical in the aid world, where the standard model was to bring solutions from outside. Sternin and his wife Monique took the positive deviance approach around the world, from developing countries to hospitals in Connecticut, saving children's lives and improving outcomes everywhere they went.