In many organizations, stagnation doesn’t begin with a bad product or a lack of resources. It begins when managers get too comfortable. Over time, they start building internal walls—not physical ones, but knowledge silos—making themselves indispensable by hoarding critical information. While this might seem like a savvy career strategy, it can strangle innovation and slow a company’s growth.
To combat this tendency, Nokia’s former CEO Jorma Ollila implemented a radical strategy in the late 1990s: job swaps. He didn’t just shuffle roles—he shook the very foundation of traditional management structures. Managers were forced out of their comfort zones in a game of what Nokia called “managerial musical chairs.” And the result? It worked. Really well.
Controlled Chaos: Nokia’s Secret Weapon
The premise behind the job-swapping program was simple: disrupt routine to disrupt thinking. At Nokia, no one sat in one seat for too long. Managers were regularly reassigned to unfamiliar departments, compelling them to quickly get up to speed and, more importantly, to learn from their peers. The ensuing chaos wasn’t a bug—it was a feature.
The intentional disorientation spurred cross-pollination of ideas. Managers began to understand how “the other half” operated. Teams that once guarded knowledge like treasure now had to open up and collaborate. While this might sound risky (and it was), it created urgency and excitement that translated directly into results. Between 1997 and 1999, Nokia’s revenue jumped from $10 billion to over $20 billion. They became the global leader in wireless phones, leapfrogging competitors who stuck to conventional models.
Innovation in Unusual Places
Nokia’s creativity wasn’t limited to job roles. The company encouraged brainstorming and problem-solving in unconventional locations. One of the most memorable stories I recall came from my own company’s experience producing the documentation for Nokia’s products during this transformational time.
During a visit to Finland, a group from our team met with Nokia executives. But this wasn’t your typical boardroom meeting. Instead, the group was loaded onto dogsleds and whisked off to a remote log cabin for discussions. I didn’t attend that particular meeting, but I vividly remember hearing about the bumpy ride—complete with running sled dogs doing what sled dogs do when nature calls. It was messy, unpredictable, and unforgettable—much like the innovation process itself.
That dogsled meeting might sound eccentric, but it symbolized a deeper principle: when you break out of the office and into unusual settings, people think differently. Creativity thrives when expectations are upended.
Shaking Things Up: Why It Matters
Nokia’s strategy wasn’t just about chaos for chaos’s sake. It was a structured way of promoting resilience, adaptability, and agility. In a fast-moving industry, where companies live and die by their ability to innovate, those traits are essential.
Compare this to organizations where knowledge is siloed and departments operate in isolation. Innovation slows. Risk-taking is suppressed. Employees stop learning and start defending turf. That’s when a company starts to atrophy.
By forcing managers into new roles and bringing people together in new environments, Nokia kept ideas flowing and hierarchy from becoming calcified. Ollila’s strategy ultimately became a case study in organizational innovation.
Taking a Page from Nokia
You don’t have to be a global telecom giant to use these principles in your business. Whether you run a five-person startup or a growing enterprise, here are a few ways you can apply the “Nokia mindset”:
Rotate leadership roles periodically. Even if it’s just within a team, rotating responsibilities can surface new ideas and deepen understanding across roles.
Encourage cross-functional collaboration. Get marketing talking to product, sales to customer support, and finance to operations. When departments understand each other, better decisions follow.
Hold meetings in new environments. Get out of the office—try parks, co-working spaces, or even unconventional venues. Changing the scenery changes the energy.
Reward knowledge sharing. Celebrate employees who break down silos and teach others, not just those who guard expertise.
Challenge routines. Ask “Why are we doing it this way?” often—and mean it.
A Personal Reflection
While I wasn’t on the dogsled in Finland, I learned a valuable lesson from those who were: disruption can be a tool, not just a challenge. At SteveBizBlog, I’ve tried to follow that spirit. Even though we’re a lean operation, we shake things up using outsourced talent from around the world and now incorporate AI to refresh posts using years of accumulated insights. That’s our version of “managerial musical chairs.”
It doesn’t take a massive overhaul to reinvigorate your business. Sometimes, all it takes is a deliberate act to move people (yourself included) out of their comfort zones.
What Can You Do to Shake Things Up?
If you’re starting to sense inertia in your company—or just want to stay ahead—consider what actions you could take to challenge assumptions, rotate responsibilities, and break routine. Discomfort may be the birthplace of your next big idea.
What bold, unconventional step could you take today to challenge comfort zones and unlock fresh thinking in your business?
