Inspired by Adam Grant and his book Originals

As far as I remember I always wanted to fit in but never quite managed. “The need for acceptance is a basic human instinct – although some value it more than others.”, says psychiatrist Joanna Cannon. Yes, it is safer being part of the crowd but I would argue that if we are in the bulky part of the Gauss curve we may be achieving only average results. Through Adam Grant’s research for his book “Originals” I finally found confirmation that great break-throughs, great success more often than not come from people who are not afraid to go against the flow, to raise their concerns or voice their ideas. On the other hand, Grant mentions a study showing that “the more frequently employees voiced ideas and concerns upward, the less likely they were to receive raises and promotions…”. Clearly – no pain, no gain.

There are companies where you can get fired for not voicing your concerns, not challenging the status quo. There are not too many of them, unfortunately. In reality, most people are fearful. Worries like “I may lose my job, I may be passed over for promotion, my work may be more scrutinised if I speak up are relevant. Managers are also worried. Many are worried that if they hire or keep top talented people they too may be passed over for promotion or even lose their statuses. Grant mentions that if a boss is told that he/she is not respected the probability that they would use power to degrade others multiplied by two. So yes, it is quite risky to stand out, to stand up but if you have a good reason or a good idea and you don’t, you will regret it and may even rob this world of some great advancements.

If you believe you have a great idea and people just don’t see it, you might find The Originals very useful. People do not like changes; they are scared of new things. That is only natural. You may need to be less transparent when you voice your ideas. Grant gives great examples of how it is possible to succeed with novel or even revolutionary ideas. It takes patience, time, courage and above all persistence. By persistence, I mean never giving up here. Whenever I am close to giving up on something, I always remember the story about Thomas Edison and his endeavours to develop a light bulb. He failed many, many times before he changed the world forever. 

Persistence when facing difficult situations is another matter though. It would most likely lead to a status-quo and Grant, therefore, suggests that the best approaches are Exit and Voice. Leave/Exit the job you hate or try to improve the situation by your Voice – talk to your boss about it, do something about it.

Rushing rarely works for any kind of work but in the case of original ideas, we should forget about it altogether. I was pleased (not for good reasons) when I read in the Originals that procrastination may be a great resource for creativity. The moment we finish a task, we tick a box next to it and forget all about it. When it is still open, we think about it at home, during exercise or in a shower. That is when we may come up with something that could make a huge impact. It makes sense. How could we put a schedule on inventing equipment that would safely, economically and ecologically get rid of all the plastic waste we have generated so far, for example? Ideas need time to mature. 

Not surprisingly, being original is much harder for women. Those who are the most assertive and dominant will most likely experience the most harassment. It is some sort of punishment for “gender-role deviants”, says gender expert Jennifer Berdahl. Sometimes, Grant argues, that in similar cases it might be needed to gain status before exercising power.

To sum it up, if you are an employee The Originals may inspire you to voice your ideas, to stand up for yourself or others, maybe even leave the job you have no future in. If you are a leader, The Originals may help you work better with your team, spark great ideas and combine your experience with your intuition. Yes, intuition! 

For all of us, we may get inspired to be brave to take on tasks we have not much experience with. We see it every day - those who have a great deal of experience are often too set in their ways (sometimes too arrogant) to see novel options. We may learn not to stay safe in the middle, be upfront about the downsides of our ideas, we will allow ourselves to censor our opinions less and voice them more.

If we combine these skills with knowing our Why (as per our previous article), we may achieve great things. I will finish this article with Adam Grant’s “Argue like you’re right and listen like you’re wrong” and see what happens.

Resources:

1 Adam Grant, Originals, WH Allen

#originals #beoriginal #breakthrough