Home topics workplace hr-and-staff Advice Staff Advice Workplace mavericks: The key to business success? Carly McKenna April 10, 2012 Small businesses are becoming increasingly reliant on quick-thinking ‘maverick’ staff members , and a new study has identified how employers can channel the talents of these independent thinkers. Maverick employees have been described as independent, creative and goal-oriented individuals. In the competitive global market-place, well known ‘mavericks’ such as Steve Jobs and Sir Richard Branson have demonstrated the phenomenal benefits that can come from risk-taking and quick-thinking. In the first research of its kind, the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and the University of New South Wales (UNSW) has attempted to explain and evaluate the behaviour of such individuals in the workplace. The cutting-edge research, based on an analysis of 458 employees, revealed a number of personality traits and biological factors which are indicative of ‘maverickism’. According to the analysis, people with a preference for using their left ear, instead of their right, are more likely to be mavericks. This is because it denotes a preference for using the right hemisphere of the brain- that is, the side associated with creative, problem solving activities. Lateral preference can be determined by which ear a person would put to a closed door to try to listen to a conversation, or to someone’s chest to hear a heartbeat. Another positive trait amongst mavericks is ‘openness to experience’, which can be advantageous in the workplace as it encourages others to embrace new