About Originals

Finally, I took the time to read “Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World” by “Adam Grant”. Unsurprisingly, I enjoyed reading that. It was thought-provoking and eye-opening; I learned that how original ideas seem radical in the very beginning and what are the strategies to reframe them as normal. For example, I did not know, how the efforts of women’s suffrage activists in America seemed radical and heretical for some groups of women at the time.

Having read the second book by Adam Grant (after Give and Take), I appreciate and admire his passion and storytelling skills to bring science to everyday life, to show us how wrong we can be in the ideas we take for granted and how the success stories we hear and the images that we shape in our minds can be distorted. His books are excellent efforts to drag science out of libraries and to tell a story that enlightens, informs and entertains.

In this day and age, originality is one of the biggest sins accompanied by introversion and many other traits. In front of every story of originality, there are some statistics to remind us these are exceptions, not norms. “Do not forget that your company will fail, statistically speaking”. We are sometimes encouraged to conform to other people, live a happy life and get the benefit of everything. People remind us the practicality of being similar to other people and behaving accordingly. Sometimes, if not always, we have to pay a social and psychological price for being an original and a non-conformist.

The good news is that we are all born originals. A kid listens to his/her heart and acts instinctively. The bad news, however, comes when people learn to conform and fit in. I have read somewhere that this happens in the early years of schooling, or perhaps even earlier in kindergarten. At this stage, children learn to fit in a group to play, to have friends, and to be recognized and gain acceptance. Later on, we learn to label ourselves by education, job, class, wealth and so on to gain identity by belonging to a certain group of people. We may forget that we are much more than our labels and demographics. We are human beings with all our dreams, abilities and vulnerabilities, no matter how typical or atypical they seem. We are more than painters, software engineers or tennis players. More than the average or median of other people in different dimensions and more than the range of people or ideas that surround us. However, it is not easy to claim independence and not only think out of the box, but also live out of the box. We have to tolerate rejection and resentment, at the very least.

My next read is Quiet by Susan Cain. I am waiting to experience another interesting journey. Follow me, if you want to get notified about that.