"Innovation Distinguishes Between A
Leader and a Follower" ---Steve Jobs
GROUP THINKERS OR OUT-OF-THE-BOX THINKER
Have you ever noticed that when people follow crowds, they become group thinkers, and if you think outside the box and others don't agree, you could be perceived as being difficult or exiled from the group? Yet, some of the most out-of-the box thinkers have been the most successful innovators in history! Why is following the crowd so easy for some and not for others? Steve Jobs was an innovative thinker who was not able to adjust to formal education and went on to become co-founder of Apple Computers revolutionizing high technology.
HUMAN BEHAVIOR
Crowd behavior is very interesting. You have to be odd to be number one and that's what makes you unique. Being your authentic self can pave the way to your individualized success. The world would be a very boring place if everyone looked the same, thought the same way, dressed the same, did the same, and no one was different. When it comes to business, you have to be distinguished. People notice. Eventually, Steve Jobs became successful and his product gave him a good reputation.
WHAT SETS PEOPLE APART
Our minds and bodies are not cloned to be the same as everyone else. I learned very early on in life, when choosing paint colors for your home, there may be psychosocial roots in human irrationality based on behavior and personal agendas or history. For example, trending designs comes to mind. For several years gray was popping up in many new home constructions and inside of people's homes. Today, people may say, gray is out, green is in. I say, how do colors make you feel? Paint stores make a fortune on selling popular colors. And the odd thing I noticed is I haven't found one person who bought a new home to find the exact match of color in stores that sell the same shade of paint from what the builders used.
MOOD CHANGERS
Colors can definitely be mood changers. Before I was 21 years old, I painted my bedroom red thinking it was romantic; but I never slept well. Perhaps the bold red colors made me restless instead of restful? Or maybe it had something to do with transitioning because of age? I wondered if a fairy tale story from childhood, "The Red Shoes," had a bad effect on me and gave me nightmares? At the time I chose the color red, it was very popular and I followed the crowd. It didn't make me happy. Last year, I had a client who couldn't afford new construction. Whenever we went to a home when something inside was painted red, her mind was closed to changing the colors. Once, she refused to walk into the dining room because it was painted red. "No! I do not like it," she said. There was nothing I could say to convince her paint was easy to change.
IT ISN'T EASY BEING GREEN
In my first apartment everything was green. Appliances, carpeting, and even the walls in the bathroom were green. My spouse who was recently released from the Army was miserable, especially when we received avocado green pots and pans, green dishes, green hamper, and a green bedspread. Even though the color avocado green was popular, my husband's eyes were mean green. No! He could not adjust to living in a green civilian world! We had to move out and start over without the color green.
FOLLOWING THE CROWD CAN BE DANGEROUS
Places like Jonestown and events like the Branch Davidians, in Waco, Texas comes to mind. It's okay to be odd and not follow the crowd. Famous examples of Groupthink and consequences are Bay of Pigs Invasion and the horrific Challenger Space Shuttle disaster. Or what about the Columbia Disaster on January 21, 2003? I was taking a real estate exam in a high rise building when the instructor interrupted the class to tell us it was expected to be flying over Dallas any minute. People can definitely get off track and out of focus when someone plants an idea about gloom and doom in your head. There are times when it's okay to be the odd one and not panic. Association to life events can have a profound affect on other people's mood. Is it no wonder why when something tragic happens, like 9/11 people who lived through it remember exactly where they were, time, and place?
BEING NUMBER ONE
Someone who impressed me early on in Business School was Robert Kiyosaki: "No one achieves great things by following the crowd. Have a spine. Follow your own path."
Another person who inspired me was Albert Einstein: "The one who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. The one who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been."
In sum, without having a backbone to stand up to others and follow your gut to face life's challenges, you may be dumping yourself into the bucket of Group Thinkers and not the critical thinkers. 2022 is definitely the year to stay alert, observe, and be true to who you are and not what others want you to be. If Steve Jobs wasn't true to himself, his life would not have had such a great domino effect on the entire world. Life is short. He knew that and said it best:
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.
Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of
other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions
drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the
courage to follow your heart and intuition."
---Steve Jobs
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