To my knowledge, I was the only person in my junior high school to receive 32 back-to-back half-hour detentions in a single class period. (Long story short: 32 detentions for 32 notes I wrote to my friends inside textbooks we shared during class.)

In any case, my parents might have taken some comfort in this study:

In the study, researchers asked elementary school teachers to list their most and least favorite students and rate both groups on various characteristics. Their least favorite students were the non-conformists. Teachers labeled them "troublemakers." 

It turns out these students were also rated as highly creative.

Creatives/troublemakers challenge the status quo, push back on rules (sometimes making up their own), question authority, and resist following the crowd.

However, to create something new or original, we need precisely these characteristics.

As a consultant and business co-founder, I have led creative strategy and design for 25+ years for clients in dozens of industries. Here's one fascinating thing I've noticed: 

Corporations are a lot like schools. They tend to encourage conformity—to peer groups, industry expectations, and norms.

But this keeps teams from taking calculated—and necessary—creative risks.

So how do you champion creative thinking when that requires people to diverge from "the rules"? 

Reframe conformity. 

In a world that moves fast, you are surrounded by nimble and creative competitors. Being a troublemaker is your least risky option.