ABSTRACT
When tested in the complex and fiery settings of work organizations, theoretical predictions of social psychology may well prove too fragile to survive the heat. Alternatively, they may suggest to practitioners and organizational psychologists simplistic solutions to organizational problems, which undermine rather than support efforts to enable organizational effectiveness. In this chapter I apply research findings about minority influence to two domains of organizational psychology: how to develop innovative teams, and how teams can bring about organizational change. First I summarize the findings from the minority influence literature and consider the implications for our understanding of innovation in work teams, and then I suggest how an understanding of minority influence can help the relatively powerless in organizations to bring about change.
