If you look at the history of mankind, and all of the challenges that humans have faced since the dawn of evolution, one question would come to mind. How did we survive? When they were face to face with nature without any of the tools that we use in our current era, mankind managed to find a way to survive. We weren’t the strongest or the fastest creatures in the land, but we had an ace up our proverbial sleeve. Our brains have given us the capacity to explore new options and to determine various possibilities and outcomes. This includes creativity, and the idea that coming together as people would be crucial in our survival. Conformity resulted in people coming together and generating their own societal rules and ways. This as a result, created things like culture, habits, and the understanding that as long as we have this, we’re able to survive.
Conformity in today’s world isn’t necessarily thought of in a positive way. In many cases, various individuals and even companies are searching for ways to stand out from everyone else. The challenge that they face is that the very foundation of who they are lies in conformity. It serves as a building block for who you are, and it serves as a safe house for those who would like to consider going out on a creative limb. Think of the analogy of a child going out into the “real world” on their own, knowing that they have two wealthy parents and a room available back at their old home. If you know that you can always go back to your old life, then you are willing to risk more in pursuit of a new one.
Having a strong foundation based in conformity is not a bad thing, but it will not help you move forward as a business, or as an individual. Public school systems fall under the same challenge of conformity vs change and innovation.
Our ancestors used the idea of conformity to build a solid foundation for survival, but they were able to use that foundation to evolve and grow as a society. This included new technology for survival, Art in the form of cave drawings, body painting, and storytelling. We grow as people when we embrace new ideas, but it’s easier to embrace new ideas once you’ve grown familiar with the old ones.
Are you familiar enough with your old ideas to consider embracing something new?
