Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World

by Adam M. Grant

Some people can have real impact, but the majority can’t.

In the deepest sense of the word, a friend is someone who sees more potential in you than you see in yourself, someone who helps you become the best version of yourself.

Originality itself starts with creativity: generating a concept that is both novel and useful.

Originals are people who take the initiative to make their visions a reality.

It’s not the browser itself that’s causing them to stick around, show up dependably, and succeed. Rather, it’s what their browser preference signals about their habits.

To get Firefox or Chrome, you have to demonstrate some resourcefulness and download a different browser. Instead of accepting the default, you take a bit of initiative to seek out an option that might be better. And that act of initiative, however tiny, is a window into what you do at work.

When they encountered a situation they didn’t like, they fixed it.

Simple, yet elegant.

twice as many people in the lowest income bracket were willing to give up the right to free speech as those in the highest income bracket.

Why???

“People who suffer the most from a given state of affairs are paradoxically the least likely to question, challenge, reject, or change it.”

A paradox, indeed.

The hallmark of originality is rejecting the default and exploring whether a better option exists.

The starting point is curiosity: pondering why the default exists in the first place. We’re driven to question defaults when we experience vuja de, the opposite of déjà vu. Déjà vu occurs when we encounter something new, but it feels as if we’ve seen it before. Vuja de is the reverse—we face something familiar, but we see it with a fresh perspective that enables us to gain new insights into old problems.

When we become curious about the dissatisfying defaults in our world, we begin to recognize that most of them have social origins: Rules and systems were created by people. And that awareness gives us the courage to contemplate how we can change them.

“only a fraction of gifted children eventually become revolutionary adult creators,” laments psychologist Ellen Winner.

“On matters of style, swim with the current,” Thomas Jefferson allegedly advised, but “on matters of principle, stand like a rock.” The

Entrepreneurs who kept their day jobs had 33 percent lower odds of failure than those who quit.

As Polaroid founder Edwin Land remarked, “No person could possibly be original in one area unless he were possessed of the emotional and social stability that comes from fixed attitudes in all areas other than the one in which he is being original.”

This is a good quote. He had a good grasp of the risk-hedge balance in being original.

Having a sense of security in one realm gives us the freedom to be original in another.

If you want to be original, “the most important possible thing you could do,” says Ira Glass, the producer of This American Life and the podcast Serial, “is do a lot of work. Do a huge volume of work.”

I think the extent that doing hard work, and a lot of it, escapes far too many people.

As we gain knowledge about a domain, we become prisoners of our prototypes.

Please don’t tell me my show is going to come down to twenty people in Sherman Oaks,”

but we need to be careful about which crowds we’re considering.

Amen! Read the room, who is your audience.

“The way to come to power is not always to merely challenge the Establishment, but first make a place in it and then challenge and double-cross the Establishment.”

I like this. A lot.

“Prophets of doom and gloom appear wise and insightful,” Amabile writes, “while positive statements are seen as having a naïve ‘Pollyanna’ quality.”

This is the core challenge of speaking up with an original idea. When you present a new suggestion, you’re not only hearing the tune in your head.

Good

“Voice feeds,” Hirschman argued, “on the lack of opportunity for exit.”

Procrastination may be the enemy of productivity, but it can be a resource for creativity.

Ideas stew, or ruminate during procrastination.

Although he was often exasperated by his procrastination, da Vinci realized that originality could not be rushed.

Learning this made many things in my own life become clearer.

Being original doesn’t require being first. It just means being different and better.

But for outsiders, the person who represents the group is the one with the most extreme views.

Instead of assuming that others share our principles, or trying to convince them to adopt ours, we ought to present our values as a means of pursuing theirs. It’s hard to change other people’s ideals. It’s much easier to link our agendas

The goal is to push the envelope, not tear the envelope.”

Excellent!

But when you’re told not to be a cheater, the act casts a shadow; immorality is tied to your identity, making the behavior much less attractive.

“It’s like saving somebody who is drowning. You don’t ask them what God they pray to. You just go and save them.”

It’s that simple.

As we encounter these images of originality in history and fiction, the logic of consequence fades away. We no longer worry as much about what will happen if we fail.

The evidence suggests that social bonds don’t drive groupthink; the culprits are overconfidence and reputational concerns.

When people are designated to dissent, they’re just playing a role.

“Dissenting for the sake of dissenting is not useful. It is also not useful if it is ‘pretend dissent’—for example, if role-played,” Nemeth explains. “It is not useful if motivated by considerations other than searching for the truth or the best solutions.

Whereas people doubt assigned dissenters, genuine dissenters challenge people to doubt themselves.

Now there’s something interesting. Doubt is reversed.

If you’re always expected to have an answer ready, you’ll arrive at meetings with your diagnosis complete, missing out on the chance to learn

Ahhhh…

To make sure that problems get raised, leaders need mechanisms for unearthing dissenters.

When ordinary people list their fears, one tends to be more common than death: public speaking.

It doesn’t take a violent dictator to silence us through fear. Just flying solo with an opinion can make even a committed original fearful enough to conform to the majority.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

One of my top quotes ever.

Research demonstrates that when we’re angry at others, we aim for retaliation or revenge. But when we’re angry for others, we seek out justice and a better system. We don’t just want to punish; we want to help.